Caterpillar Closing Plant in Northeast Iowa Town

ELKADER, Iowa (AP) — Heavy equipment maker Caterpillar has announced it will close its plant in northeastern Iowa by the end of the year, costing the town of Elkader 75 jobs.

Cedar Rapids television station KCRG reports that the company notified employees and community leaders Thursday. The plant was closed Friday but will reopen on Monday for normal operations.

Caterpillar says it's transferring the operations to a facility in Wamego, Kansas.

The Elkader plant manufactures excavator buckets, wheel loader buckets and blades for heavy machinery.

Caterpillar has undergone several rounds of layoffs, most recently in December. In 2015, the company announced it would cut 10,000 positions and close up to 20 facilities nationwide by 2018. The company has indicated those cuts and restructuring would save about $2 billion per year.