A major economic driver for Herkimer County and the Mohawk Valley has been hit with a second round of layoffs in 2017.
Remington Arms informed Ilion Mayor Terry Leonard that it will be laying off 55 employees at its plant in Ilion. Leonard says the company cited a downturn in the firearms industry.
It was just six months ago when the plant laid off 122 additional employees. But Leonard, a former Remington Arms employee himself, says he's not concerned about this becoming a pattern.
The mayor says without knowing where the laid-off employees live, it will be hard to predict the impact the move will have on the village.
Congresswoman Claudia Tenney, in a statement Thursday, blamed the move on economic downturns in the firearms industry. She believes New York State's policies on gun control are partly to blame.