http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050506/APF/505060711
NC EconWatch: Satellite dish maker cutting jobs in Mexican move
The Associated Press
SMITHFIELD, N.C.
About 300 workers who still make satellite-TV dishes at a plant in
Smithfield will lose their jobs by the end of next year as the owner of
the former Channel Master plant sends the work to Mexico.
The plant once was the largest employer in the Johnston County town with
1,600 workers at its peak.
Andrew Corp. of Illinois bought $18 million worth of assets and
intellectual property from bankrupt Channel Master in November 2003. The
company said it plans to consolidate its Smithfield operations with a
plant in Mexico to cut costs.
"We need to be out of the facility by Dec. 31, 2006," said Rick Aspan,
spokesman for Andrew Corp., which makes antennas and other parts for
mobile communication equipment. "That's when our lease is up. We are
going to be here at least another several months, if not a year plus."
When Andrew Corp. took over the plant, it said that it was a temporary
arrangement and signed an 18-month lease to occupy part of Channel
Master's former 750,000-square-foot building. The facility, on 128 acres
near I-95, is still on the market.
Andrew Corp. intends to open an administrative office, possibly in
Raleigh, that will house 90 current employees, including engineers,
product managers, and finance and sales workers, Aspan said.
Despite the job losses, local officials said displace workers will have
a chance at new jobs. Sysco, a foodservice distributor, plans to build a
new center and hire 600 in Selma; Hospira, a generic drug maker, will
hire 150 workers in Clayton; and Smithfield Foods, the giant meat
processor that is planning to lease a former Winn-Dixie building in
Clayton and hire 150 people.
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