Nilfisk to close Brooklyn Park plant, lay off 105 workers

Nilfisk, a Denmark-based manufacturer of professional cleaning equipment, will permanently close its Brooklyn Park facility and lay off approximately 105 employees, the company said Friday in a notice to state officials.

The company will end its U.S. manufacturing operations, according to a Monday news release, but plans to maintain a presence in the Twin Cities by relocating its U.S. commercial office to another Twin Cities site in the first half of next year.

Ashley Riley, Nilfisk’s Americas vice president of marketing, said the remaining 75 to 100 commercial employees who worked in Brooklyn Park will move to the new location.

“We are very, very concerned about making sure we remain convenient for our current employee base,” Riley said. “There’s a lot of research going into where our current employees live and how far they would want to travel.”

Layoffs will begin Dec. 5 and roll out in nine phases, concluding by June 30, 2026.

“The hardest part of this transition is saying goodbye to some of our colleagues in Brooklyn Park, whose commitment and contributions we deeply respect and appreciate,” Eapen Chacko, Nilfisk’s Americas executive vice president, said in the news release. “At the same time, these changes are essential to sharpen our focus on customer value.”

The cuts affect a wide range of roles, from managers and engineers to production, logistics, quality, and maintenance staff. All employees will receive at least 60 days’ notice. Some affected workers are members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 77 in Vadnais Heights.

The company had its Americas headquarters in Plymouth until it moved to Brooklyn Park in 2016.

In early 2026, the company will shift production of three machines to its Querétaro, Mexico, facility and end U.S. manufacturing of floor-cleaning equipment. A new distribution center in Arkansas will open by the end of the year to handle all machines and spare parts, the press release said.

“It’s very unfortunate to see, especially with this current administration sitting here talking about the importance of manufacturing equipment and services and materials here in the United States,“ said Andrew Peltier, directing business representative of the union.

The closure comes as Minnesota’s manufacturing sector faces broader challenges, following a national downward trend. The state lost about 900 manufacturing jobs in August — a 0.3% decline and the third consecutive month of losses, according to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.

Nilfisk has been pursuing a global cost-cutting program to offset weaker sales. In its second-quarter results released in August, the company reported a 1.1% decline in organic revenue growth but said margins remained strong thanks to “production footprint optimization.”