By DAN HEATH
PLATTSBURGH — Finding a company to take over Pfizer's Chazy research facility while it's still in full operation is unlikely.
That was one message from Plattsburgh-North Country Chamber of Commerce President Garry Douglas during a Pfizer Transition Coordinating Council meeting Tuesday morning.
He said all sides agree that reuse of an active facility remains the best result, but, realistically, that is unlikely.
"That's a tough thing to pull off twice," Douglas said, referring to the Akrimax acquisition of the former Wyeth facility in Rouses Point last January.
TOUGH SELL
Pfizer officials have said the Chazy plant will continue to be marketed as an active facility until early spring, Douglas said, when operations will start to be decommissioned.
David Champagne, managing director of the Pfizer manufacturing facility in Rouses Point, said the company is very committed to selling the Chazy site.
"It's not an easy thing to do, as we found when we sold the manufacturing site," he said.
Douglas said he is comfortable and confident that Pfizer will conduct an aggressive marketing effort, based on initial meetings with company officials.
He said the company had reached out to about 100 possible targets as of Monday and plans to contact 100 more.
There have been some exploratory visits, which he likened to the tire-kicking stage of a search for a new car.
It would be strange if there had been no interest in the facility, Douglas said. It is more likely to be sold as real estate than as an active facility.
"It's an interesting facility," Douglas said. "It's a quality operation."
Champagne said the chemical-development site in Rouses Point is slated to be in operation throughout 2010. More news about plans there should be available next summer, he said.
North Country Regional Workforce Investment Board Director Paul Grasso and Kent Eldridge, director of human resources at the Pfizer plant in Rouses Point, gave updates on employee-assistance efforts.
The original Trade Adjustment Assistance petition — filed and accepted when Wyeth initially announced it would close the Rouses Point manufacturing facility — covered all the Rouses Point employees and union workers at the Chazy facility, Grasso said.
It covers any employees laid off through the end of December 2010.
Grasso said they are now trying to find out if the non-union employees at Chazy can be covered under the original petition. If not, a new petition will likely be filed to include that group.
Inclusion of the employees at the Plattsburgh clinical supply and packaging facility is also being explored.
"I'm confident we will be able to include everybody in the original petition," Grasso said.
TRAINING
Eldridge said rapid-response meetings start today. Information will be provided about the services available.
In addition, five sessions about re-employment services are scheduled to take place before the holidays. They are intended to help affected employees learn about further training opportunities and job placement.
Grasso said workers are eligible to apply for Pell Grants under the Trade Adjustment Assistance Program.
Laid-off employees of Pfizer suppliers who are let go because of the closing may also be eligible for Trade Adjustment Assistance benefits.
Other employee benefits can include job-search reimbursements, relocation allowances and up to 78 weeks of extended financial support as they undergo training.
ASSESSING THE IMPACT
United Way of Clinton and Essex Counties Executive Director John Bernardi and North Country Small Business Development Center Regional Director Rick Leibowitz delivered the Community Impact Committee report.
The committee is developing a three-pronged approach, Bernardi said.
The first will be to assess the impact of the closings, followed by prioritizing those and then to working to address them.
Leibowitz said the committee is looking at how local businesses will be affected by the loss of such high-paying jobs, partly through one-on-one meetings with business owners over the next few weeks.
He said that, while many will focus on a decrease in business, it is also an opportunity to look at ways to develop business.
For some affected employees, it is a chance to explore self-employment. The Small Business Development Center can help with technical assistance and help identify financial-assistance opportunities.
Eldridge said Pfizer employees have expressed a lot of interest in starting their own business.
NEXT MEETING
The next Pfizer Transition Coordinating Council meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 13, at the Plattsburgh-North Country Chamber of Commerce.
E-mail Dan Heath at: dheath@pressrepublican.com
