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Longtime patron says Kirby Center ‘like home to me’

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An udderly amazing auction took place at Kirby Center in 1987

<p>HANOVER TWP. &#8212; A slowdown in receipts caused one local business to lay off workers last week.</p><p>&#8220;There has been a worldwide slowdown in receipt of new orders for the equipment we build at Wilkes-Barre,&#8221; Air Products and Chemicals Inc. spokesman Arthur George said in an email to the Times Leader.</p><p>According to George, Air Products laid off 26 employees at its Sans Souci facility. The company has also laid off several people at a Florida plant for the same reason. On Sept. 9, days before the layoffs were announced, Air Products celebrated the rollout of the first exchanger from its Florida plant, according to the company&#8217;s website.</p><p>The facility, which builds liquefied natural gas (LNG) heat exchangers, has been in the township for more than 45 years. Heat exchangers are rocket-shaped devices that compress natural gas into a liquid for transport to population centers. The website claims it takes about two years to build each exchanger. In July 2012, the 100th exchanger made in Hanover Township was shipped from the facility.</p><p>George said about 130 workers are now employed at the Wilkes-Barre site. The company has 19,000 employees worldwide. According to its website, the company has operations in more than 50 countries.</p><p>Even with the layoffs, work at the Sans Souci plant, George said, continues on schedule.</p><p>&#8216;The workforce &#8230; continues to work on completing current customer orders,&#8221; he noted.</p><p>The last day of work for the laid off workers was Sept. 14.</p><p>Air Products, publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange, has been in business for 75 years. It had fiscal 2015 sales of $9.9 billion and has a current market capitalization of more than $30 billion, according to its website.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">A liquefied natural gas heat exchanger sits in front of the Air Products plan in Hanover Townhip. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_AirProducts.jpg</photo0><caption0>A liquefied natural gas heat exchanger sits in front of the Air Products plan in Hanover Townhip. </caption0><photoCredit0>Submitted photo </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Melanie Mizenko</p><p>mmizenko@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Melanie Mizenko at 570-991-6116 or on Twitter @TL_MMizenko</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Air Products in Hanover Twp. lays off 26 workers