Marisa Wojcik:

Retailer Bon-Ton announced it would close its 12 Wisconsin stores and Milwaukee headquarters if it can’t secure a buyer. The company recently reported more than 2,200 in mass layoffs to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development. That number would be the largest mass layoff reported to the DWD in the last 20 years. In addition to those reported by Bon-Ton, 2,343 other layoff have been reported just this year. The next highest being JC Penny with 520 and Toys “R” Us with 326. Last year, the state saw roughly 6,500 layoff notices. The company with the most losses was Gordy’s County Market, a grocery store chain based in west-central Wisconsin, which laid off about 1,000 employees. These numbers are considerably different compared to the state’s last layoff peak in 2009, when more than 20,000 layoffs were reported. Through the years, the State Legislature has made attempts to save jobs from disappearing. Recently, the Senate unsuccessfully tried to pass legislation that would have given Kimberly-Clark tax incentives to retain 600 Wisconsin jobs.