RECESSION WATCH: WV Investment Board Lost $2.6 Billion, Pension Fund $600 Million, 230 Jobs Gone In Bridgeport

(02/10/2009)

New figures say West Virginia's public pension funds lost more than $599 million during the last budget year. The loss was recorded months before the global financial crisis shredded the state's investment portfolio. Latest figures from the Consolidated Public Retirement Board show the assets of the state's eight retirement programs declined 6.2 percent between July 1, 2007, and June 30, 2008. The report said all but one of those programs has its holdings with the state Investment Management Board, which has reported losses of $2.6 billion between the start of the current fiscal year and the end of November. 230 JOBS GONE IN BRIDGEPORT AGC Flat Glass Company in Bridgeport announced yesterday that it's shutting down the plant. About 230 people will lose their jobs. Some of the workforce was laid off last month. Company spokesman Chris Correnti says the shut down was due to the catastrophic decline in the auto industry. "There's been a significant drop in glass sales and glass demand throughout the world," Correnti said. AGC Flat Glass is a subsidiary of Asahi Glass Company based in Japan.

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