NORWICH – News that Esterline, a Washington State-based producer of aerospace and defense components, will cease operations at its facility in the City of Norwich has community leaders searching for ways to keep the manufacturer local.
Esterline announced last plans to close its Norwich division, Norwich Aero Products, by the end of the first quarter of 2015. According to a statement from Esterline, all U.S. production, currently undertaken at the 57,000 square foot Norwich facility on O’Hara Drive, will be relocated to its existing manufacturing facility in Tijuana, Mexico. The company has plans to transfer some administrative functions to its sister company in Buena Park, Calif.
Norwich Aero Products employees were notified of the closure last Wednesday. The manufacturer currently supplies approximately 120 local jobs.
Esterline’s official announcement came without warning, said City of Norwich Mayor Joseph Maiurano. Word of the plant’s closing reached local officials just last week.
Maiurano said he is currently working with federal and state legislators including Governor Andrew Cuomo, U.S. Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, Congressman Richard Hanna, State Assemblyman Clifford Crouch and State Senator Tom Libous to take measures that might entice Esterline to keep its Norwich branch open.
Said Maiurano, “We always stay a little bit positive and at this point, we are going to try to do everything possible to take action. It can’t just be a Band-Aid solution.”
“The Esterline Corporation is undergoing an important restructuring. This was announced to the investment community in late 2013 and has been very positively received,” reads a statement from Esterline. “Its aim is to make the corporation more agile and customer focused. As part of this program, we in Esterline Advanced Sensors will be consolidating our manufacturing base.”
Commerce Chenango President and CEO Steve Craig reacted to the company’s closing in a press release Friday morning, saying Esterline’s decision to close Norwich Aero Products was an unexpected shock to the local business community.
"To say that this news comes as a surprise is an understatement, given the ongoing strong performance of the Norwich Aero plant,” said Steve Craig, President & CEO, Commerce Chenango. “And it's extremely frustrating from an economic development perspective: Commerce Chenango works very hard to attract new employers to Chenango County, and to help those already here to prosper and grow. Unfortunately, neither we nor our partners at the state level were even given a chance to keep these 120 good jobs from being exported to Mexico."
Commerce Chenango says Esterline informed the investment community late last year that a large scale restructuring was in the works. However, the agency also claims there was no indication until this week that the Chenango County plant was slated to close.
“Commerce Chenango has reached out to state and federal partners to explore ways to lessen the impact on the local economy, and to assist displaced workers to find new employment,” says Craig.
Norwich Aero Products has been a leading employer in the Norwich area since opening its doors in 1983. According to the company’s website, “Norwich Aero maintains an AS9100 certified quality system that is recognized by leading aerospace companies (Boeing, UTC Group, Lockheed Martin, Rolls Royce Corporation, many others) as well as all cognizant government agencies.”
While the company plans to uproot next year, it says “clearly there is a lot of work to be done in 2014.”