SPENCER, Iowa -- A Northwest Iowa plant that makes engine seals for the automotive industry is closing, costing 65 workers their jobs.

Michigan-based Freudenberg-NOK announced Wednesday it would close its Spencer plant and distribution center over the next six months and transfer the work to two facilities in Ohio.

A Freudenberg-NOK spokeswoman attributed the decision to the economic downturn, which reduced sales to the manufacturing industry. The firm was forced to reassess its operations, and consolidate its maufacturing facilities, which have been operating at reduced capacity, said Sarah O'Hare, the company's vice president of human resources and communications.

"We regret that we're in a recession that's causing us to make such difficult decisions,'' O'Hare said in an interview. "At the end of the day, people aren't buying as much, we aren't making as much so we have to right-size.

"When you're only operating at half staff, it's hard to cover your fixed costs. You have to start putting plants together.''

The affected employees were told Wednesday of the decision. They will be eligible for severance pay and job placement assistance, O'Hare said.

The Spencer plant at 3600 W. Milwaukee St. was opened in 1982 by Verco Seals, a local company that originally sold drill bits and sanding belts, and later started making manufacturing seals. In 2000, Verco Seals' operations were acquired by Freudenberg-NOK, a joint venture between Freudenberg & Co. of Germany and NOK Corp. of Japan.

In 2005, Freudenberg-NOK closed a second plant at 124 E. 128th St. in Spencer, and moved the manufacturing to its warehousing division on West Milwaukee Street. At the start of the decade, the company employed around 140 people at the two Spencer sites.

Freudenberg-NOK, which has annual revenues of nearly $1 billion, plans to transfer the manufacturing from Spencer to Troy, Ohio, and the Spencer plant's distribution to Milan, Ohio.