Closure A Crisis For Local Economy (Salem, OR Tech Plant Closure)

[hatrack]

"SUMCO Oregon, which brought the Silicon Forest to Salem and helped produce a booming economy in the 1990s, will close its two factories here and pink-slip 620 workers next year. SUMCO officials said Thursday the company will shift production of silicon wafers to other plants in Asia and the United States.

The loss of SUMCO, the city’s largest industrial employer, will deliver a crushing blow to an already weakened local economy.

Company officials said SUMCO will phase out its Salem operations over the next year, leaving behind a 25-acre campus in North Salem and a 65-acre campus in the Fairview Industrial Park in South Salem.

At its peak employment in 2000, SUMCO had about 1,380 employees. Even after a series of layoffs trimmed its work force to 620, SUMCO’s payroll has continued to pump about $20 million into local coffers."

EDIT

http://news.statesmanjournal.com/article.cfm?i=70782