UNITIL FACES UNPAID OVERTIME ACCUSATIONS

The U.S. Department of Labor is suing Unitil Corp., alleging that some of its employees in New Hampshire work more than 40 hours without being paid proper overtime.

The Union Leader reported that the civil case, filed in June 2019, is set to head to a bench trial over a two-week period starting April 6.

The Unitil employees worked out of the company’s headquarters in Hampton.

The complaint alleges that between Jan. 5, 2017, through at least June 2, 2018, Unitil employed approximately 54 employees who worked more than 40 hours without compensating them time and a half of their regular pay rate.

The agency charges that Unitil failed to keep records of actual hours worked by employees working as electrical distribution dispatchers and gas controllers.

The department claims the positions were misclassified as being exempted from the Fair Labor Standards Act or overtime rates were miscalculated by not including incentive bonuses.

SIG SAUER EXPERIENCE CENTER OK’D IN EPPING

The Epping Planning Board has approved gun manufacturer Sig Sauer’s plans to move forward with a $13.5 million Experience Center at its facility off Route 27.

The new facility will feature a combination of retail and office space, indoor training rooms, firing ranges and a Sig Sauer museum. It also will have a 25-yard indoor range across 30 lanes, which will increase capacity for law enforcement, the military and the public.

Sig Sauer’s expansion in Epping comes as the company, which has headquarters at Pease International Tradeport in Newington, plans to relocate its Dover operation to a multi-building, 210,000-squarefoot campus in Rochester.

RUGER FACTORY EXPANDING IN NORTH CAROLINA

Sturm, Ruger & Co., which has a production facility in Newport, NH, has announced plans to increase factory capacity at its Mayodan, N.C., plant over the next three years. The company said the $10 million expansion will add 60 new employees to a staff that already numbers nearly 500.

Ruger opened its Mayodan plant in 2013. A performance-based grant of $150,000 from the One North Carolina Fund, which provides financial assistance to local governments to help attract economic investment and create jobs, will help facilitate the expansion.

“Expansions by existing companies are compelling evidence that North Carolina’s economic assets and business climate remain competitive with other leading destinations,” said the state’s commerce secretary, Anthony M. Copeland. “I congratulate Sturm, Ruger for its impressive growth, and also commend the state and local partners and allies that have supported the company’s success in Rockingham County (N.C.).”

TEXTILES COATED INTERNATIONAL’S MATERIAL USED IN MODERNA PACKAGING

Textiles Coated International of Londonderry, a manufacturer of fluoropolymer films, is yet another New Hampshire company playing a key role in the Covid-19 vaccine supply chain.

The company is manufacturing and supplying critical materials for packaging that facilitates transport and storage of the Moderna vaccine, key ingredients of which are being manufactured at Lonza Biologics’ Portsmouth facility.

CEO John Tippett said TCI initiated a campaign over the past decade to manufacture materials and products using high-quality fluoropolymer films for the military, medical, aerospace, oil and gas, semiconductor, electrical and food industries.