Mail transit company Alan Ritchey, Inc. is shutting down operations at a USPS transfer hub in Aurora in late February, resulting in more than 700 layoffs, according to a Tuesday WARN letter.

In the letter sent to Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman and WARN Act Statewide Coordinator Karen Hoopes, CEO Robby Ritchey said the company will cease operations at the Denver Regional Transfer Hub, 20500 E. Colfax Ave., in Aurora on Feb. 28.

Alan Ritchey, Inc. will lay off 729 employees as a result, Ritchey wrote in the letter. None of the employees are represented by a union or bumping rights, but affected employees can apply for positions at other company facilities, Ritchey said.

Affected positions include 443 shippers and packers, 163 forklift operators, 76 dock clerks, 37 lead shippers and packers, and several other positions including an HR manager and several drivers.

The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, or WARN, is a law requiring employers to inform employees of layoffs 60 days in advance, according to the Colorado website. It is meant to protect workers and their families from the impacts of mass layoffs. 

According to the letter, the USPS is ending the contract with Alan Ritchey, Inc. and did not inform the company of the news until Dec. 29 “late in the day.”

“We regret that we could not provide more notice of this layoff,” Ritchey wrote. “This was not expected or foreseeable. The performance period has been continuously extended over the last year.”

On Monday, company officials requested an extension of the contract, but USPS declined, Ritchey said, leaving the company with “no other options.”

A USPS spokesperson declined to comment on the matter.