Conference 7.286::digital

2050.0. "Franklin, MA plant to close..." by MR4DEC::GABRIEL (NBA Action, it's FANtastic !!) Fri Aug 14 1992 03:19

    
    Just read in this evening's Middlesex News (Metro West Mass) that
    Digital is closing its Franklin, MA Manufacturing Plant.  Haven't seen
    anything on VTX or the E-mail rumor mill yet.  Here's the article:
    
    
    
    	Copied WITHOUT permission from the August 13th Middlesex News
    
    Digital Equipment Corp, announced yesterday that is will close its
    Franklin manufacturing plant next spring and shift its 460-member work
    force to Marlboro.
    	The company, coming off a nearly $2 billion quarterly loss, called
    the move a "consolidation", and said it was part of an overall plan to
    downsize its operation.  The Franklin facility, which will close April
    1, handles manufacturing and design.
    	The computer maker has been hurt by decreased demand for its
    high-end line of mainframe computers and increased competition abroad. 
    Last month, found Kenneth Olsen announced he will retire Oct. 1.
    
    	"The employees' work is moving to a new location, but they will
    definitely remain with the company," said spokeswoman Nikki Richardson. 
    "This is a sonsolidation of proerties, which we've been doing for quite
    some time and will continue to do.
    	The palnt has been underutilized for a while," she continued. 
    "Space-wise, we just don't need as much as we have there.  This is
    consistent with what we've planned to do throughout the company".
    
    	Richardson said that 447 of 460 workers will be shifted and retain
    their same jobs.  The other 13, mostly maintenance staff, will be
    offered other jobs in the company or given a chance to find new jobs.
    	No decision has been made on whether the 250,000-sqaure-foot
    building will be sold or leased, said Richardson.
    
    	"No disposition on whatwe'll do with the building has been made,"
    she said.  "All I can say is that we will never again have use for the
    building."
    
    	Town Administrator Wolfgang Bauer said the closing will "have a
    hell of an effect on the town.  There's almost 500 jobs disappearing. 
    Also, an unused building has a different tax classification than an
    occupied one."
    	"I don't have the figures, but it's going to hurt.  Whether they
    decide to rent or sell, we're going to play an active role in trying to
    find a tenant.  We're going to do everything in our power to get that
    building filled back up."
    	Town Assesor William Powers said it's too early to assess the
    damage.  "Financially, it's difficult to tell what the outcome will
    be," Powers said.  "But this is symptomatic of the large decline in the
    revenue of the state.  All property is dropping in value, and we'll
    ahve to address that question."
    
    	DEC opened the plan in spring 1982.  Located minutes from Rte. 495,
    it has at various times housed over 600 employees.  Digital flourished 
    during the 1980s, but saw its share of the market slip as less
    expensive personal computers became popular.
    
    
    
    

  I worked in this plant (FXO) from 1989 to 1991 and have kept up to date on
it since.
  First of all, this is not a "manufacturing plant". The manufacturing oper-
ation there closed in 1986. From 1986-89 the plant was mostly vacant but was
used as a warehouse, transition center, and staging area for DECWORLD. In
1989 the Semiconductor Business Operation (SBO) moved there from Marlboro.
This is a central facility for qualifying and testing IC's purchased from
suppliers.
  The move of this group back to Marlboro (which plant, I don't know) has been
considered for months, so this announcement is not a surprise to the group.
In the time the group has been in Franklin, its headcount has gone down 50%.
FXO is now much too large for it, resulting in a lot of wasted space. 
  I think the company is doing the right thing by closing this plant. Most of
the employees live closer to Marlboro than to Franklin anyway.
    
>    	No decision has been made on whether the 250,000-sqaure-foot
>   building will be sold or leased, said Richardson.
  This would be an excellent site for a company that needs a plant with a large
warehouse attached.
    
>    	Town Administrator Wolfgang Bauer said the closing will "have a
>    hell of an effect on the town.  There's almost 500 jobs disappearing. 
  Wrong. I doubt that more than four percent of the workforce of this plant
lives in Franklin, and very few jobs are disappearing. In fact, if the right
company moves in, Franklin will gain far more jobs than it loses. However,
the lower property tax due to the building being vacant will have a negative
effect on the town.

    Per a friend at FXO, SBO is moving to MRO1...

           ... and the DEC 10/20 business in MRO1 is moving to NIO.

  Does anyone know if Digital has sold or leased the Franklin plant? If so,
to whom?

	The last I heard on the street the town of Franklin was pursuing
financing to purchase the building and turn into a school. That was about
6 months ago.