Sony to close glass facility
Sony Electronics is closing its television glass facility near New Stanton and terminating about 300 workers. Sony Technology Center-Pittsburgh near New Stanton on Thursday afternoon released a statement announcing the closing of its American Video Glass Co.
In its statement, Sony said it is closing the facility and ending production of cathode ray television tubes (CRTs) at its New Stanton complex by the end of May as part of a “global plan to consolidate picture tube-based television production in those markets where they continue to be popular.’
The statement said Sony Electronics has advised its employees at the American Video Glass Co., a wholly-owned subsidiary located at its technology center in Westmoreland County, of its decision to cease CRT production at the New Stanton location.
“Concurrently, the company also announced that the picture tube manufacturing operations in San Diego, Calif., will close by the end of June,’ the statement continued.
At the Westmoreland County facility, Sony’s statement said, about 300 positions involved in glass manufacturing will be affected.
Mike Koff, senior manager in Sony Electronics Corporate Communications and External Affairs, said the workers will receive the standard severance package. He said there may be an opportunity for some to transfer to open positions at the television plant.
“That remains to be seen and remains a function of the market. We won’t have a good handle on that for about another two months.
“Their last day right now will be sometime in mid- to late May,’ Koff said.
Koff said the workers are mostly from Westmoreland and Fayette counties.
“The people there are pretty representative of the whole site, which means about 50 percent of our employees are from Westmoreland County, 20 to 25 percent from Fayette and the rest from Somerset, Allegheny and surrounding counties,’ Koff said.
In terms of the buildings that will be closed, Koff said Sony is “looking at a number of things to do with the building. Obviously, Sony Corp.’s real estate division, along with the Westmoreland County Economic Development Council, will all do what we can to find a buyer for both buildings (the glass plant and logistics center).
“In an ideal situation, we will find buyers who will provide quality jobs. That’s what we are aiming for. But demolishing all or part of the buildings is a possibility,’ he said.
“These operational closings will not affect the future annual need for additional seasonal staffing in order to meet market demands for LCD and the new SXRD rear-projection televisions that will continue to be made at the plant,’ the company added in its statement.
Sony also said in its statement it will continue to market CRT-based “FD Trinitron WEGA’ direct-view televisions in the U.S. and throughout North, South and Central America as long as there continues to be sufficient consumer demand.
“The company noted that as more advanced display technologies, such as flat-panel TVs and rear projection micro-displays grow in the market, there has been a corresponding decline in demand for CRT-based sets and, consequently, the specialized glass from which they are made,’ the statement said.
Sony also announced that the Pittsburgh Logistics Center, a warehouse and distribution facility operated by Sony Logistics of America located near the New Stanton facility, will close by he end of May. Televisions produced at Sony Technology Center-Pittsburgh will be shipped directly from the factory.
Sony acquired the former Volkswagen auto assembly plant in 1990 and produced its first television, a CRT-based rear projection model in 1992.
The New Stanton plant became the world’s first vertically integrated television manufacturing plant with the start-up of American Video Glass in spring 1997. The glass company, originally a partnership with Corning-Asahi Video Products, became a Sony subsidiary in June 2003.
The facility will have a Sony work force of about 1,900 following the closures and the end of CRT manufacturing and direct-view set assembly.
In 2002, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency presented the American Video Glass Co. an award for voluntary waste minimization.
The company cut its lead waste disposal by 18,000 tons or more than 95 percent. It saved the company more than $560,000 in raw material and waste-disposal costs.
At that time, the plant employed about 550 people.
American Video Glass also received the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable’s PBT Cup and the Pennsylvania Governor’s Environmental Excellence awards for its work is cutting lead releases into the environment.
Sony and Corning Asahi Glass in October 1995 announced the $300 million joint venture to build the American Video Glass Co.
Some $14 million of that, said Thomas Hagen, then-state secretary of commerce, was being made available through low-interest loans from a variety of state programs. Hagen broke it down this way: $2 million from the Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority, $3 million from the state’s Sunny Day Fund, $5 million from PennVest, $1 million from the state infrastructure loan pool and $3 million in customized job training.
Koff said Sony has been repaying those loans and will continue to do so. “We have been paying those every month and we also pay down as part of the lease agreement on the acreage.
“Overall, since 1990, we have taken relatively little in the way of grants from the state, compared to other companies. Early on, there were grants for job training and a couple of things on infrastructure,’ he said.