A longtime Sanford manufacturer has sold its foam rubber line, which accounted for about half of its sales, to its Connecticut rival.

Expanded Rubber Products is laying off five of its 33 employees and downsizing its operations in Sanford Industrial Estates from two buildings to one, said Principal Clayton Ney.

Ney wouldn’t discuss why he had decided to sell off the company’s sponge rubber sheet and roll product line, which is used to cushion a wide range of items, such as floor mats or mousepads, or for how much. He called the May 4 sale a “business decision.” But Ney said the company wasn’t going anywhere, and would now focus its attention on its other business lines, like the production of expanded plastic packaging used in the shipment of electronic equipment.

“We’re not disappearing as a company,” Ney said. “The acquisition creates a new direction for the company, with wonderful new opportunities because we will be able to concentrate on our new product lines. We’re pleased.”

Three out of the five people who will lose their jobs as a result of the sale have already found employment, Ney said.

This second-generation company was founded in Watertown, Connecticut, 47 years ago, Ney said. It moved to Sanford in 1980, and grew to become one of just two companies in the world to make this kind of open cell foam rubber, he said. Most of its product is produced from natural rubber imported from Southeast Asia and Africa, and was shipped to clients throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. The sale to Griswold LLC, the older and bigger organization of the two, makes Griswold the world’s lone manufacturer of this kind of open-cell sponge rubber, Ney said.

“Expanded has been a formidable competitor for many years with an excellent reputation,” said Griswold CEO Dan Mahoney.

Expanded Rubber sent a fax to its clients on May 4 to inform them of the sale, thanking them for their business and promising a “smooth and seamless” transition.

Penelope Overton can be contacted at 791-6463 or poverton@pressherald.com

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