Gate Hospitality Group permanently laid off 141 employees and temporarily furloughed more than 700 at four Northeast Florida resort and hospitality properties, according to a notification filed with the state.
The layoffs affected employees at two oceanfront properties - the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club and the Lodge & Club at Ponte Vedra Beach.
The other venues are the Epping Forest Yacht & Country Club along the St. Johns River on Jacksonville’s Southside and The River Club atop the Downtown Wells Fargo Center tower.
“Sorrowfully, in early April, Gate Hospitality Group was forced to furlough a number of its employees as a result of government-mandated closures and a decline in business resulting from COVID-19 stay-at-home orders,” Gate spokeswoman Misty Skipper said by email.
“Thankfully, the majority of these furloughs are temporary and we are currently resuming operations and bringing employees back to work,” she said.
A total of 735 workers were temporarily furloughed with the largest number, 486, at the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club resort, according to the Worker Adjustment Retraining and Notification Act notice.
The company also furloughed 109 employees at the Lodge & Club, 97 at Epping Forest and 43 at the River Club.
The Inn had the largest number of permanent layoffs, 87. The Lodge laid off 24 employees, Epping Forest laid off 21 and the River Club laid off nine.
The hospitality business is part of Gate Petroleum Co., the Jacksonville-based company known mainly for its chain of convenience stores.
Gate Petroleum filed a separate WARN notice saying it was permanently cutting two fuel purchasing clerk jobs at its headquarters at 9540 San Jose Blvd.
