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Pittsfield will be losing 300 jobs with the move of the SABIC plastics operation to Houston.
(Submitted photo)
PITTSFIELD - SABIC Innovative Plastics, one of the last remaining vestiges of General Electric's once massive presence here, is moving its headquarters to Houston and closing its Pittsfield operation with the elimination of 300 jobs.
The facility will close by the middle of 2016.
SABIC bought General Electric Co.'s plastics unit in 2007 for $11.6 billion and has used GE's former plastics facility.
SABIC has research and development operations in Pittsfield in addition to the headquarters. In the news release issued Thursday announcing the move, SABIC said it also evaluating Pittsfield's Polymer Processing Development Center and its location.
But when reached by phone Thursday afternoon, spokeswoman Jodi Kennedy said no one expects SABIC to retain a presence in Pittsfield of any significance.
SABIC had been very active recruiting engineers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli, D-Lenox, said company officials were blunt with him Thursday.
"By the middle of 2016 there will be no more SABIC jobs in Berkshire County," he said. "It's so disappointing because we've worked so hard to draw these jobs."
In a news release, SABIC officials said there is more potential for growth in the Houston area as their plastics business grows in North and in South America.
Pignatelli said he was told Thursday that the deciding factor was SABIC's ownership of the Houston site. SABIC leases its Pittsfield location from General Electric.
"It was a business decision," he said. "Nothing to do with taxes or the business climate."
State Sen. Benjamin Downing, D-Pittsfield, said he'd heard rumblings of the impending closure Wednesday night.
"Frankly I'm shocked at this point. I'm frustrated for those workers who are impacted. I'm frustrated for the community," he said.
Pignatellis said state and federal lawmakers including U.s. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, have had good relationships with SABIC over the years. The late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy was instrumental in bringing SABIC to Pittsfield when GE had the business for sale.
Pignatelli and Downing said the state Executive Office of Workforce Development and the BerkshireWorks job center will help employees transition to new jobs.
"We are just trying to get all the information that we can and make sure people have the support that they need," Pignatelli said.
General Electric once had 13,000 employees in Pittsfield and its products included electrical transformers and plastics.
The massive GE industrial campus is also home to General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems which makes components for Navy littoral combat ships there.
The Saudi government still owns 70 percent of SABIC's shares, according to published references.