MOUNT VERNON — At a recent City Council meeting, city officials discussed a misperception that the local TRW plant has closed.
Operations at the plant on Blackjack Road extension, in the city’s industrial park, continue, despite a mass layoff last year.
There are about 120 employees making and machining a variety of brake products, according to TRW spokesman John Wilkerson, and all of the restructurings have been completed. Customers who receive product from the plant include General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. In the beginning of 2006, he said, about 335 employees worked at the plant.
“With the slowdown in the North American industry, there will be some up and down in the number of employees,” Wilkerson said.
In November 2006, the company announced that assembly and machining operations jobs would be moved to an undisclosed location, citing increasing pricing pressure in the market and the need to stay competitive as the motivation behind the decision.
Wilkerson said it is possible employement levels could rise based on customer demand, but this would result in the recall of employees who have been laid off, not new hires. There are no plans to add new business or take away current business this year.