As more than 200 employees of the three local Pfizer research-and-development plants consider their fate after the drug maker closes those operations in the next year or so, they have to feel glum. After all, they've had high-paying jobs with a first-rate employer, and now they're left with no security whatsoever.
Their options appear to be twofold: either take a lower-paying job — before somebody else swoops in and grabs it — or move someplace where jobs more in keeping with they're used to are available. Neither choice is especially attractive.
But, after talking with Dennis Mullen about it, we're thinking the outlook for those workers might not be so dispiriting after all. He's the president and chief executive officer of Empire State Development, the arm of New York State charged with finding and retaining business and industry for the state. He knows his way around the world of commerce: He was chairman, president and CEO of Birds Eye Foods before being induced to join the state development team.
Here's why Pfizer employees should take heart:
Obviously, Pfizer would like to dispose of its properties in Plattsburgh, Chazy and Rouses Point, and as quickly as possible.
It will be paying taxes on unused property. The company is closing the plants to consolidate its R and D functions to save money. Why would it not proceed with all haste to trim its unnecessary expenses, such as taxes on fallow assets?
The longer the company retains the plants, the better the chance of losing what employees it has, incrementally. Some of the fated employees will be looking for secure jobs here or elsewhere, compromising the local operations. The sooner Pfizer can find a promising prospect to replace itself, the smoother the transition will be.
If Pfizer is unable to sell the properties, it will be stuck with assets of no value. That is a severe detriment to a company's bottom line.
Employees should also be confident because, according to Mullen, they comprise a very attractive package for a prospective buyer. "There is a lot of talent there," he told the Press-Republican's Editorial Board. There is brand equity and intellectual property.
If another company wanted to come in and do the same kind of research and development that is already being done there, the transition would be virtually immediate and simple. Akrimax saw the opportunities available at the Pfizer production site in Rouses Point; it is logical to surmise that some pharmaceutical company — or perhaps a company in another category — would see great prudence in investigating the R and D plants.
In other words, Pfizer, the local community and its residents, and perhaps another pharmaceutical company have a common need that could be addressed simultaneously.
Mullen cited contractual confidentiality in declining to reveal whether anyone has actually looked at the plants, but he seemed to indicate that there is interest.
The R and D employees, like their production brethren two years ago, see the cloud over their future. But, like their brethren, they could see clear skies before they know it.
Opinion
November 23, 2009
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