Solo Cup gets a few Brownie points for giving hundreds of employees two years' notice that they'll be losing their jobs. The company announced today that it will close its Owings Mills plant in 2012. Employees getting put out of work rarely get this much warning. It's a small consolation, but it's something. With luck and compassion people will get decent severance packages, too.
Ironically, Solo's early warning may be a sad commentary on the economy and the manufacturing economy especially. Downsizing companies normally don't like to telegraph their intentions. That's because employees will start quitting to find longer-term positions, which can complicate operations in the meantime. If you want to run until 2012 and half the workers quit in 2011, you've got a problem.