Corporate officials from Dunkin’ responded to questions a day after this story was posted, clarifying the number of employees laid off at Mid Maine CPL and its affect on service.

LEWISTON — Mid Maine CPL at 20 Forrestal St. shut its doors and ceased operations last week, citing aging infrastructure and high operating costs.

The business Mid Maine CPL has been the largest bakery and delivery contractor for Dunkin’ franchises in central and southern Maine since 2001, supplying up to 120 stores in the winter months and 200 the rest of the year, according to several former employees who spoke with the Sun Journal and shared paperwork from management explaining the closure.

A company meeting was held Dec. 29, during which management handed out the paperwork and laid everyone off, the former employees said.

The number of workers affected is unconfirmed, but Jo Cabral, an employee who worked at the company for 10 years, told the Sun Journal on Wednesday the number is between 150 and 200.

The Maine Department of Labor said it is aware of the closure, and that it did not receive advance notice from the company. “MDOL’s Rapid Response team has reached out to the company to offer Rapid Response services for any potentially affected workers, but has not connected yet,” the agency said in an email.

Most Dunkin’ franchises use what’s known as a centralized manufacturing location to bake and deliver doughnuts, bagels and muffins. They are baked overnight at an off-site, centralized kitchen operated by a contractor, and delivered to franchises overnight or in the early morning.

Some Dunkin’ stores still have the ability to make baked goods on-site and others use frozen products that don’t require baking. There is a centralized manufacturing location contractor in Hermon that services Dunkin’ franchises north of Bangor and another in Amherst, Massachusetts.

While Dunkin’ keeps proprietary information close to the vest, a franchise owner in Bangor has previously stated that to ensure freshness, commercial kitchens can only service stores within a three-hour radius.

The Wolak Group in Falmouth, an independent franchisee network that owns and operates 97 Dunkin’ stores in Maine, New Hampshire and New York, referred questions about the impact of the closure to Dunkin’ corporate public relations, which has not responded.

The closure notice given to employees states, “the factory has reached a point where its core infrastructure and equipment is obsolete.”

The notice adds, “the inefficiency of the aging facility leads to excessively high maintenance costs and a fair amount of downtime. Furthermore, the required investment to modernize the site is financially prohibitive.”

Some employees claim they were not notified of the closure and only found out when they went to work and found the doors locked.

Calls to management of Mid Maine CPL have not been returned. Calls to the company’s phone number go straight to voicemail.

Employees say they were told they would receive payment for any outstanding earned paid leave this week, and within 30 days would receive what the notice refers to as a “bonus” of one week’s pay, based on an employee’s average wages over the past 13 weeks.

The Maine Department of Labor urges affected workers to file for unemployment and encourages them to reach out to a local Department of Labor CareerCenter, which can help connect them to employment services, training and other information.