ARARAT, Va. — A major layoff has occurred at Aerial Machine and Tool Corp., a manufacturer based in Patrick County which has been heavily courted by Mount Airy in recent years.

A company official would not reveal the total number of people affected, but an anonymous employee who notified The Mount Airy News this week said that a third of Aerial Machine and Tool’s personnel have lost their jobs.

That could put the total impacted at around 100, based on earlier-reported job totals for the defense contractor’s three locations in Ararat, Vesta and Stuart.

“All three plants have been affected,” Aerial President John Marcaccio said Thursday of the layoffs that have occurred during the past couple of weeks. “We are having some reduction in the work force.”

Marcaccio blamed the situation on the “ups and downs” of contracting with the federal government, which have curtailed orders to the company. “It’s just a reduction in our work force due to contracts slowing down,” he explained.

“But most of it is associated with one particular contract,” Marcaccio said. That product line involves fire-suppression kits Aerial Machine and Tool has been manufacturing for military transport vehicles. Those kits protect the fuel tanks of vehicles hit by enemy attacks.

The company had expanded its operations during the last two years in order to supply the fire-suppression kits, which included opening a satellite plant on Ararat Highway in Ararat in September 2008.

As of January 2009, Aerial Machine and Tool had 270 employees, including 60 at the Ararat site and the others at its headquarters in Vesta. Then in September 2009, it was announced that the company had opened a third plant in Stuart to meet production demands for the kits. That expansion created an initial 20 jobs, with more workers expected to be hired by the company at the time.

Mount Airy officials lobbied unsuccessfully for both expansions, partly fueled by the fact that Marcaccio resides here and Aerial Machine and Tools deals with a number of local vendors.

The company official was hopeful Thursday that contracting activity would pick up so that the laid-off employees could be recalled. With Aerial Machine and Tool an approved subcontractor for many Department of Defense prime contractors, Marcaccio mentioned that he had just met with the prime entity for the fire-suppression kits in an effort to speed up the process.

“We expect more orders — we would have hoped we would have them by now,” he said. But in the meantime, the manufacturer has been forced to make adjustments to compensate for the scaled-back demands for its products.

“We’re optimistic,” Marcaccio said. “We’re hoping to see some new orders.”

He added that it is “indefinite” as to when laid-off employees might return to the job.

Aerial Machine and Tool Corp. was founded in New York in 1926 and relocated to its present headquarters in Patrick County in 1988. As of September 2008, the firm’s estimated annual revenue was reported to be $37.5 million.

In addition to the military, it has been a contract manufacturer for life support, search and rescue and industrial products, according to the company Web site.

Contact Tom Joyce at tjoyce@mtairynews.com or at 719-1924.