The pending closing of a longtime manufacturing plant that will shifts jobs elsewhere spells a loss of tax revenue for the cash-strapped borough of Dunmore.
Specialty Defense Systems is scaling back operations at its plant at 530 Sherwood Ave. and will shut the 65,000-square-foot facility within months, general manager Bill Trainor said.
“We anticipate moving out of the building probably by the end of October,” he said.
Specialty Defense, which produces military helmets and gear including ballistic vests, opened a manufacturing facility in March at a 100,000-square-foot building in Jessup at the Valley View Business Park. The company, which has had a presence in Dunmore since 1969, was acquired by Armor Holdings Inc., a Jacksonville, Fla.-based defense contractor, for $92 million in 2004.
About 100 company employees continue to manufacture helmets at the Dunmore plant, Mr. Trainor said, and another 150 sew military field equipment items and make helmets at the Jessup site. Peak employment at the Dunmore plant was about 180 people, he said, and the employees and plant equipment will be relocated to the Jessup facility.
Dunmore officials lamented the job loss and the negative effect the move will have on borough finances.
Dunmore’s current debt is about $15.3 million.
“The loss . . . of $19,000 in (Emergency Municipal Tax) along with ancillary spending in Dunmore will have a negative impact on economic conditions in the borough,” borough manager Joe Loftus said.
The company is closing the plant, a former glove-manufacturing facility, because it needed a larger, more-efficient location, Mr. Trainor said.
“It’s a very old building that wasn’t very efficiently laid out for manufacturing,” he said. “It’s not in a good location. Basically, we outgrew it and outlived it.”
The 1.25-acre property, which is surrounded by a residential area, has been for sale for several months and the company is asking $499,000 for the five-building complex, said John Cognetti, president of Hinerfeld Commercial Real Estate, which is handling the sale.
Specialty originally manufactured plastic gift items for sports teams.
It converted exclusively to military equipment manufacturing in 1978.
– Courtesy of The Times-Tribune
