News of RR Donnelley plant closures and layoffs in Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky has prompted a straightforward question from workers, customers, and community members — is RR Donnelley going out of business?
It is a fair question, especially if you or someone you know just received a layoff notice. But the short answer is no. What is actually happening is more specific, and worth understanding clearly.
This article explains the difference between plant-level closures and a full corporate shutdown, walks through the recent facility changes, and helps you understand what these shifts mean for employees and customers.
RR Donnelley Is Still in Business — Here Is Where Things Actually Stand
RR Donnelley, commonly known as RRD, is not going out of business as a corporate entity. The company is privately owned by Chatham Asset Management and reported $5.37 billion in revenue in 2022, along with a net income of $161.4 million.
As of 2025, RRD employs more than 35,000 people across its global operations. The company continues to work across commercial printing, packaging, logistics, and digital marketing.
Plant closures at specific locations are not the same as a corporate shutdown. Think of it like a restaurant chain closing one underperforming location — the rest of the chain keeps running. That is the situation here.
The closures are real, the job losses are significant for the people involved, but they do not reflect the collapse of the entire company.
What RR Donnelley Actually Does Today
RRD was founded in 1864, which makes it one of the oldest printing companies in the United States. But it has evolved well beyond traditional print.
Today the company describes itself as a global provider of marketing, packaging, print, and supply chain solutions. It serves large corporate clients who need direct mail campaigns, data-driven marketing, packaging design, and fulfillment services.
RRD is not a single-plant operation. It has facilities distributed across multiple states and countries, which means any single closure affects only a portion of its overall capacity.
The company has also been making acquisitions. RRD finalized the acquisition of digital and print marketing businesses from Vericast, which signals active strategic repositioning — not a company winding down. A business preparing to shut down does not invest in new acquisitions.
The Plant Closures That Triggered the Question
Several specific closures have driven recent concern, and they are worth reviewing clearly.
Plainfield, Indiana
RRD filed a WARN notice for the permanent closure of its Plainfield plant. Seventy-nine employees were terminated over a 14-day period beginning May 14. The company cited “changing market conditions” as the reason.
Seymour, Indiana
A separate RRD location in Seymour also closed in spring, resulting in 96 jobs lost. The WARN notice described this closure as permanent as well.
Boyle County
Community-level discussions on social media reference an RRD factory closure in Boyle County, with conversations about severance and a November 30 end date. These posts reflect real worker concerns but should be read as community context, not official corporate statements.
Lewisburg, West Virginia
RRD announced the closure of its Lewisburg plant in September 2021, effective November 2021. This was part of an earlier round of footprint reduction and shows that this pattern of consolidation has been ongoing for several years.
Each of these closures affects real workers and communities, and that impact should not be minimized. But each one also represents a single location within a much larger corporate network — not the collapse of the whole business.
RRD, LSC Communications, and Why the Headlines Get Confusing
Some of the confusion around RRD closures comes from a specific corporate history that is worth understanding.
RRD completed a corporate separation that created distinct entities, one of which is LSC Communications. LSC took over some of RRD’s long-run print facilities and operates as a separate company — it is not part of RRD’s current corporate structure.
The Lancaster County, Pennsylvania closures — affecting 656 workers across two facilities — involve LSC Communications, not RRD directly. These plants were formerly associated with RRD, which is why news coverage sometimes uses the RR Donnelley name in connection with them.
LSC Communications cited declining demand for long-run catalog and magazine printing, along with rising paper and ink costs, as the reasons for those closures. The company stated that customers would continue to be served without interruption, with work shifting to facilities in Maple Grove, Minnesota and Warsaw, Indiana.
The key takeaway: if you read a headline about a “former R.R. Donnelley plant” closing, check whether it involves RRD itself or LSC Communications. They are different companies.
Why These Closures Are Happening — The Industry Context
The closures are not random. They reflect a structural shift in how businesses communicate with customers.
Demand for long-run print — thick catalogs, magazine inserts, large direct mail volumes — has been declining for years. Brands that once mailed millions of paper catalogs now rely on email, social media, and e-commerce. That reduces print volume across the entire industry.
At the same time, costs for paper and ink have increased. That combination — lower demand, higher costs — puts pressure on print facilities that were built for high-volume, long-run jobs.
RRD’s response has been to consolidate its print footprint while expanding into packaging, logistics, and digital marketing services. It is a similar shift to what a newspaper goes through when it invests in digital platforms — fewer printing presses, more technology-driven services.
This kind of transition is difficult, especially for workers in facilities that get closed. But it is a strategic response to market conditions, not evidence that the company is failing.
What This Means for Employees
For workers at affected plants, the situation is serious regardless of what is happening at the corporate level. A permanent closure means job loss, and that has real consequences for families and local communities.
WARN notices, like the ones filed for the Plainfield and Seymour closures, are legally required when companies lay off a significant number of workers. They give employees advance notice and access to state workforce resources.
In some cases, workers at closing plants have been offered transfers to nearby facilities. Reports from community discussions indicate that some support staff have moved to sister plants. However, that is not always an option for everyone, particularly those with location constraints.
Workers affected by these closures should connect with their state’s workforce development agency and review any severance terms carefully. Community discussions on platforms like Facebook can provide peer support, but official HR and legal guidance should be the primary resource.
What This Means for Customers
If you are a business that relies on RRD for printing, packaging, or marketing services, the pattern seen in similar consolidations suggests that production is redistributed to other facilities rather than simply eliminated.
LSC Communications, for example, explicitly stated that customers would see no interruption to service when closing its Lancaster plants, with work moving to other long-run facilities. RRD has operated on a similar model, consolidating production across its remaining locations.
That said, customers with active contracts or ongoing projects should confirm directly with their RRD account contacts which facility handles their work and whether any transitions are planned.
For business owners evaluating long-term vendor relationships, it is reasonable to ask about RRD’s facility network and continuity plans. The company’s scale and active investment in new services suggest it remains a viable partner, but due diligence is always appropriate.
If you want broader context on evaluating business partners and market signals, ScaleToBusiness covers practical topics for business owners navigating decisions like these.
The Bottom Line
RR Donnelley is not going out of business. It is a large, privately held company with billions in revenue, tens of thousands of employees, and active operations across print, packaging, logistics, and digital marketing.
What is happening is a consolidation of its physical footprint in response to structural changes in the print industry. Some plants are closing, some jobs are being eliminated, and some facilities formerly associated with RRD are now operated by a separate entity — LSC Communications — which adds to the confusion in media coverage.
Plant closures are disruptive and significant for the communities they affect. But they are not the same as a corporate shutdown. Understanding the difference matters whether you are an affected worker, a current customer, or simply someone trying to make sense of the headlines.
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