Pittsfield’s Rustic Crust, the town’s third-largest employer, closed its doors mid-August after nearly three decades of business, laying off dozens of workers.
Employees received a letter notifying them they were being let go “due to economic and industry forces beyond our control.” Some layoffs took place in the days and weeks prior to the company closing, but a mass layoff occurred Friday after employees worked a full day.
Despite financial troubles, company president and founder Brad Sterl still held out hope to keep the company going in some capacity.
“It was a sudden change that happened, and I’m hoping we can find a solution and to get as many people back to work as reasonably possible,” Sterl said. “It was not a planned event.”
The company, founded in 1996, was known for selling frozen pizzas and ready-made crusts at stores such as Whole Foods, Market Basket, Hannaford, Stop & Shop and Publix.
“It’s a lot of stress,” said Paul Cote, who worked at the company for over 13 years. “Everybody there was like family.”
When the Pittsfield factory burned down in 2014, the company rebuilt and continued to pay employees in the interim, which bolstered its reputation as a good place to work and drew loyalty from staff.
“I appreciate each and every one of these people,” Sterl said of the 75 or so employees. “We’ve had some of the best workers that I’ve seen here or throughout other organizations. The last thing I ever wanted to do is have to lay off a group of people. All the way from our private equity group, everybody has worked hard to find a solution.”
“In any business, as an employee, whether you work in an office or on the floor, you can feel the shift in demand and product,” former Rustic Crust accounting assistant Janice Oliver said. “When you see things slow down, you kind of know.”
She was laid off with the majority of employees, and said she could tell it was rough for Sterl to have to let people go.
“He cares, and he was deeply upset,” Oliver said. “He grew the company from infancy up to adulthood, and to have to close his doors I can guarantee you was not the easiest choice.”
Sterl said that the company had been working through some issues and is still seeking solutions.
“We fully expected that we had an answer to it and to keep the business moving forward,” Sterl said. “A lot of companies go through challenges, whether it’s material cost or other impacts from the environment of business today. So, it’s not that dissimilar to many other companies that have things hit. Unfortunately, a couple of ours were bigger than what was expected and decisions had to be made.”
NH Department of Labor Commissioner Ken Merrifield said his office is looking into the situation.
“Our concern at the Labor Department is making sure everyone is paid the wages that are due,” he said. “That’s our primary focus.”
In her search for a new job, Oliver reached out to the Pittsfield community on Facebook and was heartened by the responses she received.
“I wasn’t sure where to go,” Oliver said. “Sometimes with word of mouth, people know more about what’s happening around you because they’re in it themselves, so they’re able to point you in the right direction, and it was nice to see that and know that people do care.”
