Posted on 12/09/2006 1:10:33 PM PST by Deadeye Division
MAUDLIN CLICHE ALERT
High taxes=lost jobs=Ohio
140 million economic hit coming
Retailers, restaurants, government will feel sting of Siemens closing
Several vehicles were parked in front of Siemens Energy & Automation Inc.'s 811 N. Main St. plant Friday morning but none were in the production worker lots. The company announced a plan to close the plant within two years and sent its production workers home with pay.
By Joel E. Mast
Bellefontaine Examiner Staff Writer
12/09/06
Friday’s announcement that Siemens Energy & Automation Inc. intends to shutter its two local plants within two years, was a gut shot to the 720 employees.
And those lost jobs will impact the region’s economy to the tune of about $140 million a year.
Locally, Logan County possibly could face a $100 million hit to the economy with the city’s income tax revenues falling by around $290,000.
“Every $40,000-a-year manufacturing job adds about $200,000 to our economy,” said Logan County Commissioner Jack Reser, borrowing the Ohio Department of Development formula to determine the economic impact of a manufacturing job. “Multiple that by 500 and it gives you an idea what’s coming.”
That’s going to hit retailers, banks, suppliers, restaurants and the service industry, he said.
And the ripple effect won’t stop there. Government will feel the impact in lost city income tax revenues and county sales tax receipts.
Using an average hourly salary of $21, Siemens’ payroll would be around $21 million. That generates about $290,000 in withholdings for the city.
“This is an extremely difficult thing for the city,” Mayor Robert Lentz said. “We’ve worked hard to cut costs, find efficiencies and get things turned around for the city and then this.”
Logan County Auditor Michael Yoder said it is impossible to determine the effect on sales without knowing the workers’ spending habits.
He’ll simply have to watch receipts once layoffs start.
Mayor Lentz said he will caution the Bellefontaine City Council to roll back any plans to hire new employees.
“We’re going to have to take a conservative approach,” he said. “You add those people now and you may be stuck with them when you can’t afford to pay them.
“I’m going to recommend no additional personnel at this time.”
He also wants to ramp up recruitment of new industries. He hopes an aggressive plan with county and civic leaders can bring in an employer to replace Siemens.
Mr. Reser agreed the community needs a unified approach and the best first efforts may lay in a direct meeting with Siemens’ officials in Atlanta to see if there is anything Ohio, Logan County and Bellefontaine can offer to keep the plant open.
“They’ve been down this path before,” he said.
If that fails, then the focus has to shift to recruiting another company to fill the void.
The subsidiary of Siemens AG announced Friday it was closing the Bellefontaine and Urbana plants to move production of its industrial and commercial circuit breaker to its Juarez, Mexico, and third party suppliers.
Company officials say the move is necessary to strengthen its manufacturing base and remain competitive
. The final decision came Thursday, union officials told Mayor Lentz.
Siemens has 475,000 employees in 190 countries. Its worldwide sales totaled $107 billion in fiscal 2006.
The local plants have been operating since the 1950s and were purchased by Siemens in 1983.
The company said it will begin closing the plants in phases, with the first phase not beginning before August.
Siemens said it will offer separation pay, extended health care benefits and career help to the employees.
According to state employment figures from October, there were 25,000 people in the labor force in Logan County. A total of 24,000 were employed and 1,000 were unemployed, which put the county's unemployment rate at 4 percent.
Jon Allen, a spokesman with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, said announced closing will have significant impact on the labor force, especially if most of the affected employees live in the county.
Businesses are fleeing Ohio!
Try a BOS14323. They have gone thru the roof!
High taxes=lost jobs=Ohio
Pay more than 3rd world mexico or china=lost jobs=america=revolution against political elites and corporate fat cats
...
Siemens has 475,000 employees in 190 countries. Its worldwide sales totaled $107 billion in fiscal 2006.
Does anyone else find this somewhat incongruous? I mean, we're talking about a multinational firm doing $107 billion in business annually worldwide, and somehow sh*t-canning a few hundred working stiffs in Ohio is going to help them remain "competitive"? I mean, aren't they profitable enough? Selling out US workers to Mexico somehow seems to me to be a little hard to believe when they start the crying poor story (i.e., remain "competitive").
The local plants have been operating since the 1950s and were purchased by Siemens in 1983.
Sell them out and run the risk of having jobs offshored. Seems to be the business model in vogue today in this country, sell out.
Siemens said it will offer separation pay, extended health care benefits and career help to the employees.
Yeah, real generous thing to do, just in time for Christmas. Thanks for nothing, chumps.
Union shop?
Here is a news release from Siemens:
Siemens Energy & Automation, Inc. today announced the preliminary decision to close its manufacturing facilities in Bellefontaine and Urbana, Ohio. Siemens intends to source products currently made in these locations to existing facilities of Siemens Mexico or other third-party suppliers.
The company will start an immediate and comprehensive review of alternative sources for these products, which include circuit breakers and related components for the commercial and industrial markets.
A recommendation for outsourcing will be presented to the company's Board of Directors by the end of February, 2007.
There will be no immediate impact to the employees in Bellefontaine and Urbana. However, this action will eventually impact approximately 500 employees at the Bellefontaine facility and about 220 employees at the Urbana facility. As alternative sources are secured for the products, the company will begin closing both facilities in phases. The first phase is not anticipated to begin prior to August 2007.
Siemens will fulfill its bargaining obligations with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Union, Locals 1691 and 1740 regarding this decision.
"This is an extremely difficult business decision. We understand the impact of these actions to the people directly affected and to the community," said Dennis Sadlowski, COO of Siemens Energy & Automation. "However, we are forced to make these changes to protect the rest of our company and keep us in a competitive position for our customers."
"The company continues to move to more global product platforms and is committed to maintaining a quality, global manufacturing resource for our industrial circuit protection products," Sadlowski added. "By exploring outsourcing alternatives, Siemens is seeking to strengthen its manufacturing base and business model to remain competitive in this line of business."
When a transition plan is finalized, Siemens will work closely with government agencies and other available services to provide outplacement assistance for employees. Siemens will offer separation pay, extended healthcare benefits and career transition services to affected employees.
Siemens companies employ more than 2,100 people in Ohio. SE&A is the largest Siemens employer in the state of Ohio with over 1,400 employees in nearly 20 locations.
About Siemens
Siemens Energy & Automation, Inc. is one of Siemens' operating companies in the U.S. Headquartered in the Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta, Ga., Siemens Energy & Automation, Inc. manufactures and markets one of the world's broadest ranges of electrical and electronic products, systems and services to industrial and construction market customers. Its technologies range from circuit protection and energy management systems to process control, industrial software and totally integrated automation solutions. The company also has expertise in systems integration, technical services and turnkey industrial systems. For more information: http://www.sea.siemens.com/.
Siemens AG (NYSE:SI) is one of the largest global electronics and engineering companies with reported worldwide sales of $107.4 billion in fiscal 2006. Founded nearly 160 years ago, the company is a leader in the areas of Medical, Power, Automation and Control, Transportation, Information and Communications, Lighting, Building Technologies, Water Technologies and Services and Home Appliances. With its U.S. corporate headquarters in New York City, Siemens in the USA has sales of $21.4 billion and employs approximately 67,000 people throughout all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Eleven of Siemens' worldwide businesses are based in the United States. With its global headquarters in Munich, Siemens AG and its subsidiaries employ 475,000 people in 190 countries. For more information on Siemens in the United States: http://www.usa.siemens.com/.
Just one more example of how Bob Taft's weak, tax-hiking, leadership has trashed the economy of the Buckeye state. He cannot be gone fast enough for me.
Business school parasites don't actually care about the long term, but the semi-academic branch of the corporate parasite community is required to theorize how economic treason works out for the best in the larger, global systemic efficiency sense of things.
Such theorizing assuages the conscience a bit, allows the averting of one's eyes from the harm caused by economic treason, provides a sort of 'cover' to its practitioners and political minions, and jobs for some in the corporate parasite academic/journalistic/think-tank community.
Yes, giving the folks 8 months advance notice was really cruel. It would have been so much kinder to keep it secret and spring it on them at the last minute. Now, they might be able to find jobs before the layoffs which would cause them to miss out on their unemployement benefits.
I read that somewhere too. Ohio is losing out on a lot of things, and don't be surprised to watch G.E. start "outsourcing" a lot of its' jet engine manufacturing too. I detest unions, but in Sieman's case, that is nothing but corporate greed and a chance for payback to the dipsticks running the city, county, and state.
A ping. Thought this might be of interest to you.
It has been bad enough with the loser Taft jacking up every tax he can think of, but with Strickland coming in, Ohio is in for a professional screwing. Siemens read the handwriting on the wall and did the only reasonable thing. I don't think this is any coincidence, and is probably a harbinger of things to come.
>>Sell them out and run the risk of having jobs offshored. Seems to be the business model in vogue today in this country, sell out.<<
This is what the Bush administration is encouraging them to do. Supporing our global neighbors rather than supporting the American taxpayers.
The AFL-CIO and other initiative sponsors followed a clear political strategy, pushing minimum wage increases in states where Democrats had excellent chances of victory and opportunities to rally their supporters. Those states were Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Missouri, Nevada and Ohio [article]
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