MANVILLE CLOSES PARKERSBURG PLANT - 100 Jobs Go To Germany And Ohio

(10/18/2002)

The Johns Manville plant in Wood County will be closed by the end of the year, according to the company president Steve Hochhauser. Production will be shifted to Germany and a plant in Ohio. One hundred employees will lose their jobs at the plant which produces air filteration products. The company has 9,500 workers at 52 plants in China, Europe and North America. The original Parkersburg plant was established in 1908 and was purchased by Manville in 1958. At one time the plant employed several hundred regional workers. The plant closure is part of a trend toward globalization of manufactured products, utilizing cheaper labor in other countries. Several thousands of jobs have left this region in the past 36 months, and more are expected to leave.

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