NEW HAVEN, Ind. (WOWO): New Haven Mayor Terry McDonald has released the following comments in reaction to the Vera Bradley announcement about the elimination of their second shift.

Mayor McDonald has been in contact with the company and has received information that Vera Bradley is working with each of their employees that will be affected by this decision.

Mayor McDonald said, “The elimination of any jobs is of great concern and we will work with our partners at Northeast Indiana Works and the WorkOne Northeast Center to assist affected individuals. The City and Vera Bradley are keeping our lines of communication open. We are encouraged that some employees will be offered positions within the company and on the first shift of the manufacturing plant.” The Mayor added, “The City of New Haven is proud to have Vera Bradley’s manufacturing facility in our community and we look forward to our continued relationship with the company. Vera Bradley has been a great source of pride in our region and we believe they will continue to grow and offer employment opportunities in the future.”

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NEW HAVEN, Ind. (WOWO): Officials with Vera Bradley have announced plans to eliminate their second shift operations at their New Haven facility. As of right now, the New Haven shop employs 360-full time employees and 150 of them work on second shift. Some of them may have the opportunity to move to first shift, but a number of jobs will be lost.

According to our partners in news at 21 Alive, the shift will be eliminated as of November 1st.

Vera Bradly attributes the cutback to the high costs of producing goods domestically versus overseas. Company officials say they will be offering severance packages.