ROANOKE (WSLS 10) - FreightCar America will halt production at its Roanoke plant sometime in June, according to Roanoke Mayor Sherman Lea.
The company previously announced layoffs in February.
Lea said by April 24, the company plans to lay off 166 people and then layoff 198 by the end of May.
Officials said they hoped business would turn around so they would not have to make the layoffs, but they couldn't avoid it, according to Lea.
Lea says he wants the employees at Freight Car to know that the city is already working to find support for them.
"I just want the affected employees to be encouraged and that hopefully we'll be able to find some form of employment for them and so that's important for them to know, because this is a tough time, but we can weather the storm and we're going to do all that we can do and i'll be doing all that i can do to make sure that we can find employment for those that want to be employed," said Lea.
Lea says specifically he's already been in contact with the Virginia Employment Commission.
He also says a company in Lynchburg has already reached out to him, saying it has positions that could potentially be filled by some of the displaced workers.