(Source: New Haven Register)

By Cara Baruzzi, New Haven Register, Conn.
Nov. 13--NEW HAVEN -- The Elm City is poised to lose another manufacturer, with Ingersoll Rand Co. Ltd. announcing Wednesday it will close its manufacturing facility at 50 Ives Place in the second quarter of next year, eliminating roughly 100 jobs.
The business cited a companywide restructuring and the challenging economy as reasons for the decision. Company officials said employees were notified Wednesday of the pending closure.
The local facility is part of Ingersoll Rand's Security Technologies Sector and produces builder and architectural hardware, such as house numbers and other door and window components. Those product lines will be relocated to other Ingersoll Rand facilities or suppliers, according to company officials.
The company said it will provide support services to displaced workers, including career counseling and severance packages. Workers also will be able to apply for other job openings within Ingersoll Rand at other facilities.
The company, which is incorporated in Bermuda, has 29 plants in the U.S., along with others in Europe, Asia, Latin America and Canada.
"This is a tough blow for 100 families in a bad economy that comes at a truly unfortunate time," said Mayor John DeStefano Jr. "We will support workers as best we can with our state and federal partners and others. I will be instructing the economic development administrator, along with the Economic Development Corp. of New Haven, to look into what options might be available for displaced workers."
Jerry Clupper, executive director of the New Haven Manufacturers Association, said the news ought to spur discussion among manufacturers and legislators about whether state support of advanced manufacturing is competitive.
"As unwelcome as this announcement is, it again provides the opportunity for reviewing the attitude and support that our state provides," he said. "This is never more important than in today's economic climate."
The weak economy is taking its toll on businesses in many sectors, said Nicholas Perna, economic adviser to Webster Financial Corp.
"Unfortunately, we're going to see more news like this coming out," he said. "It's only just begun. There are many, many victims of a recession and manufacturing ends up, many times, taking it on the chin."
Until recently, manufacturers had been enjoying relative strength, he said, as other countries outside the U.S. continued to grow, increasing demand for U.S. goods, and a weak American dollar boosted export activity. Those trends have since reversed, however, with the dollar rebounding and most of the rest of the world joining in a global downturn.
Job losses nationwide and in Connecticut have accelerated in recent months amid the turmoil, Perna said.
"It's indicative of what's going on," he said of news Ingersoll Rand will close the New Haven site. "More and more of us are knowing someone who has lost their job."
Clupper said there are more than 30,000 manufacturing jobs in the New Haven area, and they have the highest average salary of any business sector. He also said each manufacturing job creates an average of three additional jobs, making it an important economic driver in the state.
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