Albany Int’l Corp. plans 2 plant closings
The Business Review (Albany) - by Adam Sichko
Albany International Corp. plans to close two manufacturing plants and reduce the employees at a third facility, the company announced on Wednesday.
The Menands-based manufacturer (NYSE: AIN) will close a 32-person plant in Washington state, transferring that work to a facility in England. On June 29, the company said it will be closing a 61-person plant in Australia, sending that work to a South Carolina site.
In addition to closing the Washington state plant, Albany International plans to close a plant in France, eliminating 92 jobs. The company also wants to reduce an undisclosed number of jobs at a 191-person plant in Germany, which will remain open.
Those two moves in Europe are subject to negotiation with the Works Council, the European equivalent of labor unions.
“Details of those discontinuations need to be negotiated. That’s why we’re unable to be more specific,” said company spokeswoman Susan Siegel. “We have to announce this as a proposal.”
The workers at the plant in Washington were not unionized, Siegel said, so the company does not have to negotiate its decision to close that plant. That work will be sent to a plant in England by Aug. 31.
Albany International, with close to 6,000 employees, primarily produces fabrics and parts for machinery used by the paper and pulp industries.
All those sectors have been hard hit during the global recession. Albany International projects that this year will be its first year-over-year decline in sales in 15 years.
The actions announced Wednesday are part of an ongoing, company-wide effort to streamline operations.
“They are a business necessity, driven by the existing and anticipated market conditions,” the company said in a statement.
Siegel added that none of the announced actions would impact jobs or work in the company’s Capital Region operations. Albany International has 200 local employees.
asichko@bizjournals.com
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