Financially beleaguered LeNature's Inc. in Latrobe has stopped production and furloughed 238 workers, according to a spokesman for the company's court-appointed custodian.
Production workers, sales staff and other office personnel were informed at 8 a.m. this morning not to report for work until further notice, said spokeswoman Brenda Adrian.
She said a "skeleton crew" of employees remain on the job at the beverage plant.
Adrian said the shutdown was triggered by a "lack of raw materials."
The company is beset with financial problems that forced court-appointed custodian Steve Panagos to file for bankruptcy late last month.
Adrian said workers could be recalled when raw materials arrive and demand for the product increases. However, she said the cash-strapped company may not be able to obtain those materials and resume production because of a lack of money.
Salvatore LoBiondo, the officer in charge of LeNature's day-to-day operations, said last week the Latrobe plant would remain open, but he could not guarantee it would remain in operation in the future.
LeNature's Phoenix plant has been closed permanently as accountants and attorneys work to reorganize the company which is mirred in more than $400 million in debt from bank loans and junk bonds. Investigators have discovered LeNature's CEO Gregory Podlucky of Ligonier inflated his sales and revenue figures for 2005 claiming the company had $275 million in sales when the actual number was $32 million.
