Bad Links?
Other glitches?
Notify Webmaster

Photocircuits eliminating hundreds of workers in PTC

Photocircuits Corp., the second-largest private employer in Fayette County, will eliminate nearly 90 percent of jobs at its Peachtree City plant in the coming months as it consolidates operations near its Glen Cove, N.Y., headquarters.

New York Gov. George Pataki made the announcement on Friday that Photocircuits had decided against moving its base of operations and hundreds of jobs to Georgia. A generous incentive package offered by New York officials persuaded the company to instead expand on Long Island, where it already has more than 1,000 employees.

The company’s 700 employees in Peachtree City were told of the decision on Friday as well, said Scott Formel, who oversees the Georgia operation. “There certainly was some disappointment,” Formel said on Monday. “They wished we were consolidating here rather than New York. But I would not say that this was a shock to our folks at all.”

Photocircuits, which manufactures printed circuit boards, had been looking for some time to consolidate either in Georgia or New York. Formel said employees were kept informed in every stage of the negotiations. Brian Cardoza, president of the Fayette County Development Authority, called the Christmas week announcement “devastating,” but also said it wasn’t a surprise.

Cardoza had been working with local and state officials to convince the company to relocate all of its operations to Peachtree City — a move that could have doubled its local workforce.

He conceded that there was no way Georgia officials could match the incentives offered by the New Yorkers, which included tax breaks, utility concessions and low-interest capital loans.

Peachtree City Mayor Steve Brown echoed that opinion. “To say it’s kind of unexpected, well we really can’t say that,” Brown said. “I was really surprised they stayed as long as they did.”

Photocircuits will keep a small presence in Peachtree City, with about 75 employees handling sales, service, distribution and some production work, Formel said. But a majority of the 717 people who work for the company, including 100 temporary employees, will be phased out over nine months starting in January. It was unclear how many of those would be offered transfers to New York, though Formel said they would have that option.

“We told folks that if they were interested in moving to New York, we’d entertain that option,” Formel said, pointing out that as many as 100 of the workers in Peachtree City actually moved here from New York over the years.

It was unclear Monday how great an impact the loss of more than 600 jobs will have on the Fayette County economy. Photocircuits is the biggest customer for the Peachtree City Water and Sewer Authority, and will pay more than $414,000 in taxes this year, ranking it 5th on the list of Fayette County industries. But it was unclear Monday how great an impact the loss of more than 600 jobs will have on the Fayette County economy.

Nearly a third of the jobs expected to be phased out are held by residents of Coweta County. Just 122 workers live in Fayette County, and many of those are management positions that might be retained. The remaining employees are scattered across 16 different counties, from Meriwether with 52 employees to Butts with just one.

Cardoza said he first contacted Department of Labor officials two months ago to alert them to the possibility that Photocircuits might pull out of the state, and programs are in place to address the needs of the employees.

“We have already started discussions with the state to assist in the outplacement of the folks as they are gradually reduced,” Formel said. The timing of the announcement one week before Christmas was unfortunate, Formel admitted, but couldn’t be helped.

“When New York came in on Thursday with their final deal and it was clear that was the direction we needed to go, we wanted to tell our employees as soon as possible,” Formel said. “It was the right thing to do. It will give them more time to prepare in the long run.”