The Flanders Solutions LLC facility closed down Thursday, eliminating 74 jobs in the area.

AAF Flanders announced the decision this week, stating “the combined company is continually evaluating operations in order to best meet market needs. This requires effectively leveraging technologies and processes, and creating efficiencies through better utilization of assets and reduction of overall costs.”

Employees were not informed of the decision until the day of the closing. The facility is located on Page Road in Washington and specialized in fiberglass media manufacturing.

“Every employee that’s worked there will have the opportunity to apply for any open positions that AAF Flanders has,” said Jerry McGuire, vice president of global marketing. “We followed the requirements set by the government, and each employee was provided a package upon their exit, as well.”

AAF Flanders is moving fiberglass operations under one roof to its 200,000-square-foot location in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It will continue to move equipment from Washington to Arkansas through the rest of the year.

McGuire said AAF Flanders will keep its location on Flanders Filters Road in operation. He also said the company has plans to expand its existing facilities in Washington, and create more jobs in the future by doing so.

“We are going to make significant investments in expanding those facilities in future months,” McGuire said. “What we’re really focused on now, moving forward, are the investments that we’re going to make in Washington in the other facilities towards expansion and other opportunities for hiring in the community.”

Japanese company Daikin (American Air Filter Co. Inc.’s parent company) acquired the Washington-based Flanders Corp. in April 2016, making AAF Flanders the world’s largest manufacturer of air filtration products. AAF Flanders also acquired Phoenix, Arizona-based Aire Filter Products in January.

“The decision to consolidate our bulk fiberglass operations was made only after careful and extensive consideration,” stated AAF CEO Phil Whitaker. “In order to continue to drive innovation and progress in our industry, moving glass operations to Fayetteville is the right strategic move for optimizing our organizational footprint and better serving our customers over the long term.”