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Beer distributor announces layoffs
Beer distributor announces layoffs
Listen to this articleThe Winner Distributing Co. intends to lay off 125 employees at the end of the month in connection with the sale of its Highlandtown location, according to a notification to the state.
The Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation announced Tuesday that the company had filed to say it will begin layoffs Feb. 28.
Winner is an Anheuser-Busch wholesaler, one of nine in the state, according to the Anheuser-Busch Wholesaler website. The facility that is closing is at 7616 Canton Center Drive, in Baltimore County just over the line from the city.
Representatives from Winner could not be reached for comment, and Anheuser-Busch representatives did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
The company distributes Anheuser-Busch products to all of Baltimore and most of Baltimore County, said Jack Milani, legislative chairman for the Maryland State Licensed Beverage Association. Distributors for a particular brand are assigned to sell to all restaurants, bars and beer stores in a given geographic area, he explained.
Marc Winner, president of Winner Distributing Co., also operates a separate distributing business, F.P. Winner Ltd. in Rosedale. According to the 2007 Modern Brewery Age Blue Book, both distributors had a sales volume of more than $50 million.
“They had a fairly sizable presence,” said Del. John A. Olszewski, Jr., D-Baltimore County. “They were successful and generally well run.”
Rapid response teams from DLLR and Baltimore County have reached out to the employees of Winner.
DLLR also announced Tuesday that AscendOne, a debt management company based in Columbia, will be reducing staff, laying off 147 employees on March 31. According to its website, AscendOne has nearly 800 employees, two-thirds of whom work from home.
Mark Westerman, chief marketing officer for AscendOne, told The Daily Record that most of the employees who will be laid off are telecommuters, so the impact in Maryland will be mitigated.
He attributed the reduction in staff to a shrinking debt relief market and said that the company is reinvesting the savings in other parts of the company, including its wellness business, the Nava Health and Vitality Center in Columbia.
