Niagara ends Ocala water plant run

Fifty-seven workers will lose their jobs on December 31, 2026, as Niagara Bottling shuts down its Ocala manufacturing plant. This final group of employees represents the entire remaining staff at the facility located at 2445 NW 42nd Street.

A Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification letter dated October 31, 2026, confirmed the closure to Ocala Mayor Ben Marciano and the Florida Department of Commerce. Miguel Gomez, the company's director of human resources, cited an organizational restructuring as the reason for the shutdown.

The positions affected include injection operators, forklift drivers, maintenance technicians, production managers, quality control staff, warehouse leads, and the plant director. The notice states that these terminations encompass the full on-site workforce.

This closure ends the multi-decade operation of the Silver Springs Bottled Water Co. facility. The Richmond family had run the business since 1991. Niagara Bottling, based in California, acquired the company in September 2025 for more than $25 million. The purchase price was specifically listed as $25.7 million.

The buyout triggered a rapid reduction in headcount. Within weeks of the acquisition, Niagara announced it would fire 85 employees. By the start of 2026, 73 of those workers had been released. The current round of layoffs removes the last of the original staff.

In March 2026, Niagara representatives told the Ocala-News.com that the plant was not closing. They described the changes as a streamlining of operations with a smaller workforce that would continue regional production. The permanent shutdown contradicts that earlier assurance.

Niagara Bottling identifies as the largest family-owned bottled water company in the world. It maintains other production facilities in Florida, including locations in Groveland and Jacksonville.