Published: February 15, 2008 06:49 pm      

Astro Air announces plant closure

Special to the Progress



Luvata North American Management officials on Thursday announced to Astro Air employees that their plant would be closing in August, affecting 390 workers. Some of the work will go to Grenada, Miss., and the remainder of the work will be relocated to a plant in Mexico.

Luvata also announced Luvata Electrofin will not be affected by the Astro Air closure. Luvata Electrofin currently employs 30 workers in Jacksonville.

Luvata, an international corporation, purchased Astro Air and Luvata Electrofin, formerly AST Electrofin, in 2006.

The Astro Air announcement adds to an already difficult quarter of financial news in Jacksonville. Alliance Data Systems announced on Jan. 31 that its Jacksonville branch will close in April, which will eliminate 230 jobs. Alliance Data and Luvata are both among Jacksonville’s top ten employers.

As rumors of the company’s impending departure grew, city officials and the Jacksonville Economic Development Corporation, or JEDCO, worked with Luvata senior management over the past several months to offer assistance in sustaining, and potentially growing, their existing businesses in Jacksonville. Jacksonville officials said a rapidly changing global marketplace and cost and pricing pressures from its customer base forced the company to turn down JEDCO’s offer.

JEDCO President Darrell Prcin said the decision may have been the result of Luvata’s success in the city.

“This news is upsetting for Jacksonville and Cherokee County. As local businesses grow and become successful, they also become attractive to national and international corporations,” Prcin said. “Unfortunately, this makes Jacksonville vulnerable to decisions that are being made in other states, and in this case, overseas,” he said.

Robert Cudd, chairman of the board for JEDCO, lamented the impact of Luvata’s closure on families.

“These decisions have a direct impact on families in Jacksonville, and ultimately our economy,” Cudd said. “It is frustrating because there are absolutely no local issues which are driving this decision. This is a classic example of a very large company combining operations from multiple locations after a buyout.”

Mayor Robert Haberle said Jacksonville’s legislative and economic entities will work together to soften the blow suffered by Alliance Data and Luvata’s departures.

“Facing the loss of jobs in our community is certainly not an ideal way to start the new year. But, even in the early hours of the recent one-two punch, I can pledge to the citizens of Jacksonville that the governing bodies of the city, JEDCO and the Chamber of Commerce are working to address both the economic recoil as well as the human impact.”

In response Luvata’s announcement, JEDCO will be working closely with area employment agencies, Luvata and other local business over the next few months to assist in locating future employment opportunities.

“We as a community need to do everything in our ability to support those affected by this decision,” Cudd said.