Another 290-pink slips were handed out today to RV workers in Elkhart county.

The latest layoff comes at Keystone RV in Goshen.

The total workforce at Keystone was cut by about 10-percent. The lay off was scattered among some 15-Keystone plants in Goshen.

Keystone is Elkhart County’s third largest employer.

“It’s so easy to talk about the numbers and then you run into one of the workers at a grocery store and realize that they had three kids, have a mortgage, and maybe a sick child,” said Keystone President and CEO Ron Fenech. “We don't come by these choices easily. We've delayed it as long as we could.”

Fenech blamed the nation’s soft economy for the move.

“We just all have to hold our breath and get to spring and hope that next year is going to be a more positive year,” said Fenech.

Even after the layoff, there was a lot of activity on Keystone’s Goshen grounds today, where some 26-hundred people still work.

“I don't want to white wash it, I mean it’s a difficult time,” said Fenech, “but its no disaster.”

“There's a lot of people that are still buying RV’s, an awful lot, we retailed over five thousand last month,” said Fenech. “That's a lot of trailers and fifth wheels being sold given the economic conditions.”
As for the future, Fenech hopes today’s layoff will be the last for awhile. “I would like to think this is it, we feel pretty confident of where we're at.”

The Keystone layoff pales in comparison to the situation at Monaco Coach, where plant closings will idle some 14-hundred Elkhart County workers.