Troubled Foster Wheeler subsidiary Foster Wheeler Energy Corporation is to close its Dansville, New York, manufacturing facility in February. The factory, which opened in 1900, manufactures HRSGs.
The closure is necessary, says the company, because of continued financial losses at the plant, the inability to reduce future operating costs, and the decline in business conditions in the energy sector. The company has already begun curtailing its operations at the plant. The economic turndown and low energy prices, leading to a fall off in new generation build are being blamed, but financial troubles at the facility became apparent in May of 2001 when the state of New York stepped in with a $1.5 million 'workforce training grant' that helped to save the jobs of the then 300 strong workforce.
Closing down will result in a charge on the company accounts of about $6 million. Statement of Financial Accounting Standards provisions require that approximately $4.7 million of this amount will be recorded during the fourth quarter 2002, the remainder during the first half of 2003.
The company has notified its workforce, union and government agencies in accordance with legislation, and will be working with the state Department of Labor to provide employees with 'outplacement services'.
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