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January 13, 2010

Pfizer extends Rouses Point lease through 2010

By DAN HEATH

PLATTSBURGH — Pfizer has extended its lease of the Rouses Point manufacturing facility until at least the end of 2010.

David Champagne, managing director of the Pfizer manufacturing facility in Rouses Point, confirmed the company had extended its agreement with Akrimax Pharmaceuticals.

“Pfizer has made the decision to extend that (lease) clause until the close of 2010,” he said during the Pfizer Transition Coordinating Council meeting Wednesday morning.



BUYS MORE TIME

Plattsburgh-North Country Chamber of Commerce President Garry Douglas said the announcement gives Akrimax six months additional lease revenue and more time to ramp up manufacturing for itself and other companies.

The announcement means about 350 Pfizer employees in the manufacturing end could remain with the company at least through the end of this year, after announced layoffs of about 200 Rouses Point manufacturing employees take place.

Pfizer retains the option to extend the lease for six-month increments through the end of 2011.



HUGE IMPACT

Alan Beideck, a regional labor economist with the New York State Department of Labor, distributed copies of a workforce-reduction impact study created by the State Labor Department’s Division of Research and Statistics.

The analysis focuses on the North Country labor market region, which includes Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties.

The study shows the direct effect of the approximately 600 Pfizer layoffs in Chazy, Rouses Point and Plattsburgh at $42.1 million in lost payroll and a $179 million economic impact.

Firms that sell to Pfizer — including some from this area — are projected to cut another 294 jobs, with $13.7 million in payroll and an economic impact of $54.4 million.

When other local businesses are affected by lost spending, an additional 248 jobs are expected to be lost, with $8 million in payroll and $24.8 million in economic impact.



LOST WAGES

The average annual wage for Pfizer’s manufacturing jobs is estimated at $57,550 by the Department of Labor’s Occupational Employment Statistics program.

Pay for the research and development workers is estimated at $82,801.

Those wages are about twice as high as the region’s private-sector average, and almost one-third higher than its manufacturing average.

The total impact of the Pfizer closure is projected at 1,142 jobs, with $63.8 million in payroll and $258.2 million in economic impact.

Several members of the council said it’s important to remember the numbers are a worst-case scenario that would mean everyone who was laid off was unable to find new work or left the area.



LOCALS SHOULD PREPARE

Rick Leibowitz, regional director of the North Country Small Business Development Center, said a letter has gone out to business owners throughout the North Country.

They should be developing contingency plans to cover scenarios, he said, such as how to deal with the loss of 10 to 15 percent of their business and how to pay increased utility bills.

One idea has been to submit a grant proposal to actively market the region to shoppers and tourists in southern Quebec. The strong Canadian dollar is expected to continue, which could attract more tourists and shoppers from that region.



HELPING WORKERS

North Country Regional Workforce Investment Board Director Paul Grasso presented information about the council’s Employee Assistance Committee efforts.

He has worked with Pfizer and state and U.S. Department of Labor officials to amend the Wyeth/Pfizer Trade Act Assistance petition to include all effected employees at the Rouses Point, Chazy and Plattsburgh facilities.

“I am confident we will get all the effected employees under the TAA petition,” Grasso said.

In the event it doesn’t happen, Grasso said, his group is working to prepare a National Emergency Grant application. It would be used to obtain funding from the U.S. Secretary of Labor to expand service at the state and local level in response to events such as the Pfizer closings.

Education seminars were held on Jan. 6 and 7 at the Rouses Point and Chazy facilities to provide information about educational opportunities available to employees who are being laid off. A second round of sessions is planned.



MARKETING THE SITES

Douglas said Pfizer, the chamber and its partners continue to market the Chazy facility.

“Pfizer is aggressively reaching out to targeted parties. There are interested parties,” he said.

Douglas said he wanted to dispel a rumor that Pfizer plans to demolish the Chazy plant soon after it closes.

Champagne said Pfizer has looked at that as it studies all alternatives for a closed facility. The sale of the site remains the primary goal, he said, and responded “not right now” when asked if demolition is part of the active plan.



NEXT MEETING

The next meeting of the Pfizer Transition Coordinating Council is scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday, March 3, at the Plattsburgh-North Country Chamber of Commerce.

The meeting is open to all.



E-mail Dan Heath at:

dheath@pressrepublican.com

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