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Pittsfield will be losing 300 jobs with the move of the SABIC plastics operation to Houston.
(Submitted photo)
PITTSFIELD - A few Berkshire County industrial employers have already come forward with plans to hire some of the SABIC employees who will lose their jobs when the plastics manufacturer moves its headquarters to the Houston area over the next 18 months.
"We feel guardedly confident that there are going to be able to be a handful offering opportunities," said Pittsfield Mayor Daniel L. Bianchi Friday, without naming the companies that have come forward. "We have a number of plastics manufacturers. The skills are in demand."
On Thursday, SABIC Innovative Plastics, one of the last remaining vestiges of General Electric's once-massive Pittsfield operations, announced it is moving its headquarters to Houston and closing its Pittsfield operation with the elimination of 300 jobs.
Some of the 300 workers may be offered the opportunity to transfer to other SABIC facilities, including the new headquarters in the Houston area.
Speaking Friday, Bianchi said he's been in contact with state and federal officials including Gov. Charlie Baker, state Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development Ronald L. Walker II, and U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield.
Bianchi said he met Friday with the Berkshire Regional Employment Board, the Berkshire Chamber of Commerce and 1 Berkshire, which is an economic development consortium of economic development agencies in the region, Berkshire Community College and Berkshire Works one-stop employment center.
Next steps, he said, are to get an idea of who will be without a job and what skills they possess. Berkshire Community College might also assist with job retraining.
Then he wants to meet with local industrial employers, including General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, which makes components for Navy littoral combat ships on the old GE campus. He'll want to know what everyone's hiring plans are for the next year or 18 months and how former SABIC employees might fit in with those plans.
For example, Unistress in Pittsfield has contracts to make deck panels for the Goethals and Tappan Zee Bridges in New York as well as other projects. That has the potential to impact the availability of local jobs.
Colleen Quinn, spokeswoman for the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, said a rapid response team will be on its way to Pittsfield to assist workers.
"Our Rapid Response team - which is part of the Department of Career Services, has reached out to company executives to see if we can set up at the company site to help people file for Unemployment Insurance benefits, resume writing, interview workshops, job fairs, as well as pointing people to any training they may be eligible for. These are typically the services Rapid Response provides anytime a company announces layoffs.
"DCS staff will also look at whether we need to have any federal funds set aside that would pay for training and additional career counseling for those affected by layoffs at the Pittsfield company."