A door and window maker is blaming the continued recession in the housing market for an offer to employees at four operations in Iowa. Pella Corporation spokesperson Kathy Krafka Harkema says the move is designed to trim the company’s bottom line. Pella is offering offering incentives for employees to retire or voluntarily leave the workforce. The offer involves Pella Corporation facilities in Carroll, Shenandoah, Sioux Center and Pella. It’s also being offered at Pella manufacturing sites in Macomb, Illinois and Portland, Oregon. The incentives were announced Thursday along with the closing of a plant in South Carolina.

“Unfortunately, we must close our manufacturing facility in Columbia, South Carolina that employs 147 people,” Harkema said. That plant will close by the end of December. Harkema says new home construction has dropped 70-percent since 2006 and the recession in the U.S. housing economy is projected to continue. “If people aren’t building new homes, they’re not needing as many new windows and doors. That’s what led us to take these actions,” Harkema said. “We’re sorry to have to take these actions, but we’re doing all we can to partner with area officials to try and help people find new careers.”

Pella Corporation is a privately-held company headquartered in Pella, Iowa with 8,000 employees around the country.

(Pat Curtis/Radio Iowa)