Philip Morris to close Concord cigarette plant (2,500 workers, including many BCTGM members)

[Omaha Steve]

http://washington.bizjournals.com/charlotte/stories/2007/06/25/daily11.html

Philip Morris to close Concord cigarette plant
Charlotte Business Journal - 2:53 PM EDT Tuesday, June 26, 2007
by Ken Elkins
Staff Writer

Philip Morris USA will close its 2,500-employee cigarette plant in Concord in three years, citing a decline in U.S. demand for cigarettes.

Most local production will move to the company's Richmond, Va., facility, where many of the Cabarrus County plant's workers would be offered jobs, the company announced Tuesday.

"It is my hope that the majority of the employees at Cabarrus will be able to relocate to Richmond," says Mike Szymanczyk, Philip Morris USA chairman and chief executive.

For employees who don't want to move to Richmond, a three- to 20-month severance package awaits, says Brendan McCormick, Philip Morris senior director of corporate communications. Employees with 30 years or more of service will get the largest package.

The decision to close the 2.4 million-square-foot Concord plant is part of a larger plan by the subsidiary of New York-based Altria Group Inc. (NYSE:MO) to consolidate its facilities and move more cigarette production to Europe, where smoking isn't taking such a large hit as in the United States.

The decision will leave the 1.6 million-square-foot Richmond facility as Philip Morris' only U.S. production plant.

FULL story at link.

[kirby]

1. Good riddens...

Now thats an industry where i hope they lose all the customers...

[monmouth]

2. Isn't or wasn't Fred Thompson a lobbyist for them????....eom