Plant closing; 106 emplyees to lose jobs in Deerfield

By Chad Cain

04/25/2008- Daily Hampshire Gazette

SOUTH DEERFIELD - The region will lose a large manufacturer by year's end when Pliant Corp. shuts its plastic film plant off Routes 5 and 10 and puts 106 people out of work.

 The company said Thursday it intends to discontinue all manufacturing no later than Dec. 31, with final distribution of inventory and relocation of equipment targeted for completion by Jan. 31, 2009.

'There are people who have been employed here a long time. It's really sad,' said Clark Sylvester, manager of the South Deerfield plant.

The Schaumburg, Ill.-based company makes plastic film and packaging products for a variety of food, industrial, medical and agricultural products. It said the closing is the result of a comprehensive debt- and cost-reduction program that includes plant shutdowns, selling or leasing of facilities and equipment, and reducing inventory.

'The difficult decision to close the South Deerfield plant is not a reflection on the employees or the operational performance of the plant, and the company respects and appreciates the employees' contributions for the past 47 years of operation,' Pliant Corp. said in a statement.

Sylvester could not comment on whether Pliant will offer employees the chance to transfer to other plants or provide severance packages. A lawyer for the company declined to comment about the pending closing Thursday afternoon, saying the company would issue a press release next week.

Pliant operates 21 manufacturing and research and development facilities around the world and employs about 3,000 people.

It's unclear what will happen to the 178,000-square-foot factory, formerly Deerfield Plastics, that Pliant owns.

The closing announcement comes a little more than two years after Pliant filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. That filing included the company's U.S. and Canadian operations. Its Mexican, German and Australian operations were not included, a company spokesman said at the time.

Pliant reported to Bankruptcy Court that its decision to file for Chapter 11 was influenced by several factors, including the increase in the price of raw materials caused by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. The company emerged from bankruptcy in July 2006 without laying off any employees. It said at the time that the bankruptcy was strictly for the purpose of financial restructuring and had nothing to do with operations.

Ann Deres, business services supervisor for the Franklin-Hampshire Career Center, said the Pliant closing, while significant in size, isn't among the largest in the region when compared to manufacturing plants in Berkshire and Hampden counties that are shutting down.

She said the career center will likely provide assistance to the employees who are losing their jobs.

The factory was founded in 1953 as Deerfield Plastics. Huntsman Packaging purchased Deerfield Plastics in 1996 and later became Pliant Corp. through a leveraged buyout in 2000.

The company employed as many as 150 people in 2001, the same year it bought Uniplast Films and closed that company's two plants in Palmer.

Pliant said on its Web site that it posts annual revenues in excess of $1 billion.

Chad Cain can be reached at ccain@gazettenet.com.