Sanmina electronics plant to close

Electronics manufacturer Sanmina-SCI will close its Fountain plant Dec. 31 and lay off 319 workers, the latest wave of tech jobs that will vanish from the Pikes Peak region. The San Jose-based maker of electrical components — such as circuit boards and cables — sent a letter Friday to Fountain Mayor Jeri Howells, notifying her of the number and category of jobs being eliminated and the expected date of the closing.

The letter was sent to comply with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. The federal law is meant to give employees and local officials a heads up about job cuts; large employers must give workers and state and local government officials 60 days’ notice of plant closings and major layoffs.

The layoffs are expected to start Nov. 10, the letter says. It’s uncertain what kind of severance packages, if any, employees will receive. It’s also unknown what will happen to the manufacturing plant, which El Paso County land records list at about 250,000 square feet, or a little larger than a Wal-Mart Supercenter.

Company officials refused comment.

Chip maker Intel Corp. announced earlier this year that it would close its northwest Colorado Springs plant in January. Four hundred Intel workers will remain on the job until then, although 400 other jobs are gone.

The loss of Sanmina-SCI and Intel are more evidence of the seismic shift in the nation’s manufacturing and technology base; thousands of decentpaying jobs are being shipped to other countries where labor and man- ufacturing costs are cheaper.

“It’s not totally surprising to us that this is happening,” said David White, Colorado Springs Economic Development Corp. marketing vice president. “These companies have to compete on a global basis. They have to keep their costs down. If they can’t keep their costs down, they can’t stay in business.”

Whether that’s the reason for the closing of Sanmina-SCI’s plant, 702 Bandley Drive south of Colorado Springs, isn’t known. Sanmina-SCI announced last month it plans to build a manufacturing complex in India; its Web site says it has operations in 19 countries, and business publication Dun & Bradstreet says the company employs more than 54,000 people worldwide.

Sanmina-SCI and Intel aren’t the only companies shedding jobs. El Paso County lost 1,361 manufacturing and telecommunications jobs last year, said economist Fred Crowley of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, quoting a state Department of Labor and Employment publication.

Local manufacturing and telecommunications jobs had average salaries of $55,000, Crowley said. It’s unknown what the Sanmina-SCI jobs paid.

Crowley estimated the closing of the Sanmina-SCI plant could translate into the loss of 400 jobs at restaurants, dry cleaners and other services. The Intel and Sanmina-SCI positions are considered primary jobs — those that bring wealth into the community.

“This is never a good thing,” Crowley said. “On the heels of Intel, between the two of them, this is not good news.”

Yet, the EDC’s White says his nonprofit group — the area’s primary jobs generator and recruiter — hasn’t ruled out adding manufacturing and tech jobs in the future. But such jobs won’t be the same; bioscience, security and alternative energy are among the emerging industries that will offer opportunities.

“The key to our success is innovation,” White said. “We’ve got to ride the wave of new technology.”

In the meantime, White said the EDC estimates about 2,700 primary jobs have been added to the local economy since Oct. 1, 2006.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0228 or rich.laden@gazette.com

LAYOFF HISTORY

March 2001: SCI Systems announces it will close its plant at Powers and Astrozon boulevards in Colorado Springs and shift work to its Fountain plant.

June 2001: 150 layoffs mainly at SCI Systems’ Fountain plant. January 2002: 120 jobs are cut after Sanmina Corp. of California merges with SCI Systems of Alabama.

February 2005: 50 workers let go. August 2005: An estimated 150 people are laid off.

September 2007: 319 workers will lose their job when the plant closes this year.

GAZETTE RESEARCH; SANMINA-SCI