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SentrySafe To End Rochester Operations; 350 Workers Affected

One of Rochester's oldest companies will be losing a lot of jobs.

SentrySafe , a company that's been around since 1930, and was sold to Master Lock last year, is going to be closing in Rochester a year from now, and in the process, cutting about 350 positions.

Officials with Master Lock say the operations from here and a facility in Indiana will be moved into its other locations in Wisconsin and Mexico.

They call this a business decision needed to remain competitive, and they say the move should not reflect the talents of the Sentry team. The company says it will provide job placement services and says it does have open positions at its Wisconsin operation as well as other opportunities throughout its organization.

The man whose family started Sentry three generations back, Jim Brush, the former CEO of the company, tells WXXI News that hearing about the closing just makes him sick.

He says when he and his brother Doug made the decision last year to sell Sentry, they picked this particular buyer because they were assured jobs would stay here.

"That was the number one criteria, we had six different companies that were very interested, we came down to two at the end, and we chose the one that wasn't even the highest financial offer, it was the one that we thought was the best long term fit, and would guarantee jobs here in Rochester."

"It's three generations, I'm thinking of my father and my grandfather and all the sweat equity they put into it and most importantly, the jobs here in Rochester, not only our employees, but the supply organizations, it makes me sick. None of  us saw this coming. If we knew that this was what was going to happen, there's no way we would have sold to that company."

Rochester Business Alliance CEO Bob Duffy says he's also saddened by the news, but says he has spoke with Master Lock officials who said they would work with the RBA to try and find jobs for the workers being let go.

"I have told Master Lock we will help with job fairs and any connectivity we can make with those employees, It's a great workforce a great company . One thing Rochester is, is resilient, and as sad as this news is, we're going to pick up and go on and make sure these folks have a job and we keep moving on down the road."
 
Duffy says officials at Master Lock told him that no types of government incentives would have changed their mind about closing the Rochester operation. They said it was a business decision.
 

Randy Gorbman is WXXI's director of news and public affairs. Randy manages the day-to-day operations of WXXI News on radio, television, and online.