On Thursday, July 24, Maui Land & Pineapple Company (ML&P) announced it would eliminate 274 positions within its work force due to recent financial hardships; primarily escalating production costs and waning revenues. Of its three corporate divisions—Maui Pineapple Company, Kapalua Resort and the community development division—Maui Pineapple Company will lose 204 positions, Kapalua Resort will lose 46 and the community development division will lose 24, respectively. For many, Thursday’s announcement came as a complete shock, after recent reports announcing expectations that the company would return to profitability within the next year. Additionally, ML&P representatives ceremoniously rang the bell at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in May, to celebrate the company’s transfer to the NYSE Big Board. However, last week’s layoffs are evidence of troubled waters for the company. In a statement issued on Friday, July 25, the company said it plans to downsize the plantation in order to manufacture products for local markets, in addition to producing fruit for “a handful of selected accounts on the Mainland.” In response to the layoffs, the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations scheduled a meeting to help laid-off ML&P employees with job counseling, training and other employment services on Tuesday, July 29, in Kapalua.