Carestream to close former Kodak plant

Carestream, a global provider of medical imaging and X-ray systems, said Monday that it will close its Windsor manufacturing facility and transfer production operations elsewhere.

The company said 210 of the 236 employees now employed at 2000 Howard Smith Ave. in Windsor will lose their jobs, with the remainder transferred to other locations.

Layoffs are expected to start on April 26 with a group of 137 employees, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification letter filed with the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment on Monday.

“Our people have been dedicated and loyal employees of the company who demonstrate great pride in their work. It is important to emphasize that this decision is purely an economic decision, not one regarding the performance of the site,” said Andrew Mathews, a senior vice president of operations at the company, which is based in Rochester, N.Y., in a news release.

Carestream said the decision to shutter the Windsor facility reflected reduced production volumes, the chance to streamline shipments between sites and the high cost of site infrastructure. Essentially, Weld County became too expensive.

Eastman Kodak, the pioneering film and camera maker, began operations in Windsor in the late 1960s in what was a factory of the Great Western Sugar Co. Kodak helped fill the void left in Great Western’s demise, eventually employing 3,500 people on its campus at its peak.

The transition to digital cameras, which Kodak also helped invent, made film, its primary revenue source, obsolete. Unable to diversify to other revenue streams quickly enough, Kodak sold off assets and eventually sought bankruptcy protection in January 2012.

Private equity firm Onex Corp. paid $2.35 billion for Kodak’s Health Group in 2007, rebranding it as Carestream Health. A plant in Windsor was part of the deal. In August 2022, Carestream sought bankruptcy protection so it could restructure its debt.

“Carestream’s highest priority has been preparing our employees, customers, vendors, and business partners with as much information, advance notice, and support as possible,” the company said in its release Monday.

Employees were told in mid-november at a town hall meeting of the pending closure and have received support through workshops and job search help, the company said, adding that they will be provided with severance and other benefits at their end date.