Ironton received another devastating economic blow Wednesday afternoon when Honeywell Specialty Chemicals, formerly AlliedSignal, announced an eminent departure from the city, leaving Ironton without a single industrial business within city limits.

Thursday, March 02, 2000

Ironton received another devastating economic blow Wednesday afternoon when Honeywell Specialty Chemicals, formerly AlliedSignal, announced an eminent departure from the city, leaving Ironton without a single industrial business within city limits.

Following in the empty footsteps of companies like Cabletron Systems Inc., Intermet-Ironton Iron and Ashland Inc., Honeywell announced it will close its doors permanently sometime this year.

Honeywell officials informed the plant’s 42 remaining employees, of which 29 are union-represented, of the impending sale of the company’s naphthalene business – the primary function of the Ironton facility, said Lisa Vaga, Honeywell manager of communications for specialty chemicals.

"We informed the employees and union leaders that we have a tentative agreement to sell our naphthalene business. That is the primary function of the facility," Ms. Vaga said. "If that agreement goes through, the plant will shut down."

Although plant officials said the agreement has not yet been signed, Ms. Vaga did state that all indications point to the completion of that agreement.

"We feel it is very likely at this point," she said. "That is why we are making the announcement."

The shutdown, which is likely to take place by the end of the year, if not sooner, comes as no real surprise to company officials.

"For some time we’ve had some business performance issues at that facility," Ms. Vaga said. "It’s been struggling for some time and, although we’ve been trying to restructure it for several months, ultimately this seemed to be the best course after evaluating all of our options."

For a city that has lost more than 1,000 jobs in a year’s time, the news is not a welcomed announcement.

"Once again, Ironton has been hit with unemployment," Ironton Mayor Bob Cleary said. "I am saddened by the announcement and for the people who are losing their jobs, but I remain hopeful that our vigilance in attempting to recruit new industry to the city will soon bring in replacement jobs."

Ironton will not, however, hire an economic development and recruitment specialist until at least July 1 if council passes currently proposed budget amendments.

Instead, the city, which Tuesday laid off three police officers due to budgetary strains related to the recent income tax revenue losses, will focus on doing what can be done to make improvements without such a recruiter.

"We started several months ago with an extensive plan of recruitment for new businesses into the city and I’m very confident that some of the contacts that we’ve made will come into our community, bringing with them new jobs that will offset these losses," Cleary said. "It certainly is another blow to the city and the residents, but we’re going to focus instead on redirecting our energy into finding industry that will recognize the strong, skilled workforce our city has to offer and will bring those jobs into Ironton."

Those efforts also will be continued at the state level, said T.J. Justice, director of the governor’s Region 7 Economic Development office.

"There continues to be interest in the Lawrence County area," Justice said. "I am hopeful that our marketing efforts will pay off in the near future."

Those marketing efforts have included direct calls to companies, newspaper advertisements and the current marketing analysis, Justice said.

Meanwhile, workers and company officials at Honeywell will move toward the shutdown.

"Right now, we are going to be having out placement programs, should the agreement be finalized and the plant be closed," Ms. Vaga said. "For salaried employees, they will receive their benefits and for the union-represented employees, we will be working with the union to determine any sort of severance or other benefits."