Profits fell for the second straight quarter at AAON Inc., and the Tulsa company revealed Monday that it has trimmed about a quarter of its work force during the last year, including about 140 people in Tulsa.

AAON, which makes rooftop heating and air-conditioning units, said third-quarter earnings were down 8 percent from the year-ago period to $7.7 million. It also said its work force is now leaner by about 380 people.

Compared with a year earlier, third-quarter sales were down 26 percent to $58.5 million.

"We expect the downturn in the economy, which we experienced to an even greater extent in the third quarter, will continue to impact our business for the foreseeable future," CEO Norman Asbjornson said.

For the year, sales are down 13 percent and earnings down 4 percent. AAON executives expect the rest of this year, as well as next year, to be rough for the industry.

AAON said it finished closing a factory in Burlington, Ontario, eliminating 160 jobs, and has trimmed an additional 220 employees elsewhere by dismissing under-performing workers and through attrition.

Some of the sales decreases came from shuttering the Burlington factory, which AAON purchased in 2004. It never became as profitable as hoped, company executives said.

Asbjornson said AAON had also cut about 25 percent of the work force at its operation in Longview, Texas, and nearly 140 from Tulsa, including "people who weren't performing."

He said the company hasn't had any "general layoffs" since the beginning of the recession.

Some firings came after AAON instituted drug testing.

"Even though we already had a drug policy in place that we use in the hiring process, we still had quite a few people that didn't make it," Asbjornson said.

AAON has about 840 employees at its Tulsa headquarters and about 270 in Texas.

About a year ago, its work force totaled nearly 1,500.

Kyle Arnold 581-8380

Originally published by KYLE ARNOLD World Staff Writer.

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