WyoFile and KOTA contributed to this report.
Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon is pledging support for more than 100 workers in Gillette after a pair of local construction firms abruptly announced major layoffs last week.
Hoskinson Contracting and Hoskinson Concrete, both based in Gillette, handed out pink slips to a combined 123 employees. A company official said Hoskinson Concrete will shut down for good, while Hoskinson Contracting will significantly scale back.
The layoffs hit Dec. 5 and mostly involved skilled workers hired to build the Hoskinson Health & Wellness Clinic on the south side of town, a project launched by company founder and Input Output Group CEO Charles Hoskinson.
“The large-scale construction needs that led the clinic to create an in-house construction company have come to an end,” Hoskinson Contracting CEO Chris Davis said in a statement. “As a result, Hoskinson Contracting is scaling back its operations, and the Hoskinson Concrete division is being closed.”
According to the company, all laid off workers will stay on payroll through January. Hoskinson Contracting listed more than 260 employees on its website Friday morning.
Gordon called the situation “one of the most significant layoffs Wyoming has ever seen.”
“This is tough news for more than [100] Wyoming workers who showed up, put their skills to work, and who now face job loss,” he said. “I am deeply concerned for the hard-working individuals and families who now face uncertainty, especially during the holiday season.”
State officials say the size of the layoffs goes beyond normal seasonal slowdowns in construction.
Gordon said his top priority is helping displaced workers land new jobs as quickly as possible. He noted that the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services is already coordinating with the company and organizing support.
Workforce Services Director Elizabeth Gagen said the Gillette Workforce Center is ready with immediate help, including career planning, job search assistance and training opportunities.
Administrator of Workforce Programs Holly Simoni said they’re working to get direct contact information for every laid off employee.
“We have offered to do a virtual event and to do something at our [Gillette] location,” Simoni told WyoFile. “We’re trying to get specific contact information on these employees so that we can reach out to them and offer our services.”
Impacted workers are urged to contact the Gillette Workforce Center at 551 Running W Drive, Suite 100, Gillette, Wyoming, or call 307-682-9313 or 307-687-5255. Job seekers can also look for openings and register online through the HireWyo website.
Gordon stressed that Wyoming still has strong demand for skilled construction and trades workers, calling these high-wage jobs “critical” to both the state’s economy and the stability of Wyoming families.
Despite the scale of the layoffs, neither Gillette nor Campbell County elected officials were notified ahead of time, according to WyoFile.
Campbell County Commission Chair Kelley McCreery said he only learned of the cuts when contacted Friday.
“I do know [the companies] expanded really, really fast,” he said.
Earlier this year, the county awarded Hoskinson Contracting a job to install a boiler at the Northeast Regional Airport outside Gillette. But the company later backed out.
“They came back to us later and said, ‘We have lost some supervisors and we’re spread too thin, and we’d like to get out of the deal.’ So we let them out,” McCreery said.
Looking ahead, Hoskinson Contracting plans to operate on a much smaller scale.
The company will “work in a more limited capacity,” Davis said, focusing on maintaining existing Hoskinson properties and managing future projects, which it plans to bid out to other local Wyoming contractors.
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