After 117 years in operation, Freeport Brick Company is slated to close its doors by the end of the month.

The plant currently employs 35 workers, all of which will have to find new jobs after April, said Freeport Mayor James Swartz.

“It's a shame,” he said. “It's been here well over 100 years.”

The United Steelworkers Union (USW), of which the Freeport Brick workers are members, said the plant is closing due to financial troubles caused by competition overseas.

The union is petitioning the U.S. Labor Department for Trade Adjustment Assistance for the affected workers, said Tom Conway, USW International Vice President.

He said that due to global overcapacity and illegal trade policies, imports from China and Russia have displaced American businesses, including the Freeport Brick Company.

Bricks line the kilns and furnaces at steel and aluminum producers, and as the demand for American metal drops, so does the need for bricks.

“The losses sustained by America's aluminum industry have impacted other refractory makers like the Freeport Brick Co., and the USW has filed three actions pending before the U.S. Department of Commerce,” Conway said. “There has been a tremendous influx of aluminum from China and Russia involving illegal subsidies.”

For companies to receive relief they have to prove injury by laying off workers and closing down plants, he said.

“A major problem with American trade laws is that to qualify for trade adjustment assistance, you have to lose your job first.”

The union estimated that employees laid off from union jobs will only make two thirds of their pay if they find work in the service industry.

The Freeport Brick Company brickyard and surrounding 45 acres were bought by Holbein Incorporated, a family-owned construction company based in Sarver.

“It's a shame what happened to Freeport Brick and Fuzion Technologies,” Bob Holbein, owner of Holbein Inc., said.

Holbein hopes his newly purchased property can benefit the community, bringing in jobs and business opportunities.

He plans to use the land to expand his company and to help incubate local business, possibly renting space and providing jobs to the community.

“I'm excited,” he said. “Freeport's a great little town. It could just use a little more people.”

The Freeport Brick Company was founded in 1900 and was then known as the Freeport Clay Products and Minerals Company. The company changed its name to Freeport Brick Co. in 1916.

It was bought by bought by Fuzion Technologies in 2005.