Northeast Regional Plant Watch: Companies to Pull the Plug on 25 Facilities by Year's End

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Reported by Annette Kreuger, Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Rumors of an impending facility announcement are sure to launch city and state officials on one of two very different paths. The hint of new plant construction or an expansion will leave them barely able to contain their excitement over future economic and job gains. It is an entirely different matter when that message regards a plant closure. Such a possibility will send officials scrambling for a solution -- all desperate to stave off the loss of high-paying jobs and the erosion of their tax base. In many cases, closure is inevitable. Looking forward from January 2008 through the end of the year, a recent analysis of Industrial Info's Industrial Plant Database coverage reveals that the Northeast has 25 plants that have either already closed or are scheduled to do so.

Click on the image at right for a list of 2008 industrial plant closing in the Northeast market region.

The good news lies in the fact that the list of targeted plants for 2008 is considerably shorter than what happened in the Northeast in 2007. The region, which includes Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, closed 35 plants last year, or 40% more than what is expected this year. As was the case in 2007, none of the states will escape unscathed, with all sharing in the loss.

For 2008, New York retains the dubious honor of having the most plants to close, with 11 sites and more than 1,600 jobs on the chopping block. Last year, the state lost 15 plants, resulting in an estimated 1,400 people facing unemployment. While Pennsylvania fares better with seven expected closures, the state stumbles with a potential job loss of 1,600 for 2008. This is in comparison to 2007, when it experienced nine plant closures and shed 761 jobs. New Jersey is expecting to lose seven plants and just less than 1,000 jobs this year, compared with 10 plants and nearly 1,500 jobs in 2007.

Delaware, as small as it may be, will unfortunately take the biggest hit. Despite the fact that the state is preparing to say goodbye to only one plant, it is a doozy. Later this year, Chrysler is expected to shut the doors on its 3,500-employee assembly plant in Newark, a town with a population of just more than 30,000. Ouch.

The Industrial Manufacturing Industry is taking the biggest hit this year, shedding six plants and nearly 4,500 jobs. In addition to the Chrysler plant, another automaker, General Motors (NYSE:GM) (Detroit, Michigan), is closing an aluminum powertrain casting plant in Massena, New York. The Pharmaceutical & Biotech sector has marked six plants up for closure, with just more than 800 jobs involved. Pharma giant Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) (New York, New York) is on the list, with a Parsippany, New Jersey, production plant set to close by the end of the year (Reference: Industrial Info's Pharmaceutical Tracker.)

Not all of the plants will close their doors. Some will be sold, and, if within the same sector, many jobs will be retained. Others will be reopened after undergoing renovations to accommodate the new owners -- again, replacing some of the lost jobs. Despite the plant closings, there are still more than 3,000 operational plants in the region, as found in the Northeast Region Online Plant Directory.

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