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Lisle, Ill.-Based Network Cable Manufacturer to Close Plant in Nashua, N.H.

Posted on: Thursday, 15 April 2004, 06:00 CDT

Apr. 14--Hudson-Molex Premise Networks, maker of electrical and computer network cables, is closing its 55,200-square-foot plant at 8 Executive Drive, laying off some its workers and relocating other to its parent company's Lisle, Illinois headquarters, according to company officials.

Of the 27 workers left at the plant, one third of them will be offered jobs at the Illinois headquarters, while the rest will be receive severance packages and outplacement help, according to Margaret Batkiewicz, communications manager for the parent company, Molex Inc.

"Molex deeply regrets that changing customer demands and a competitive marketplace require the relocation of these operations," was the official statement the company released.

At the Hudson plant, there was product development, sales support, administration and warehousing. "The move will leverage resources available in Lisle, including extensive testing, and design and development capabilities," according to the company. The company expects the move to be completed by Aug. 31.

The move is a sign of the times, with the high tech bubble having burst a few years ago and the market for fiber optic cabling of any kind almost disappearing, leading to increasing layoffs in fiber optic companies as well as related high tech products.

Molex Premise Networks, previously called Mod-Tap and based in Harvard, Mass., chose to expand and consolidate its facilities in Hudson, building the $4 million building in 1999. The company received $6 million in state industrial bonds to build and furnish it that year. When the company broke ground, the ceremony was attended by then Gov. Jeanne Shaheen. As part of its application for the bonds, the company said it would bring 71 existing workers and hire another 80.

In April 2001, the company announced it was moving its manufacturing to England to cut costs, and 30 of the company's 82 workers were layed off.

The week before those layoffs became public, it had begun cutting the hours of manufacturing workers and the corporation's top executives took pay cuts of between 15 and 40 percent to their base salaries.

In November 2000, the company had laid off temporary workers, instituted a hiring freeze and begun delaying any spending that could be put off, in an attempt to cut costs.

The company has decided not to sell the building at this time, according to company officials.

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To see more of The Telegraph, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.nashuatelegraph.com

(c) 2004, The Telegraph, Nashua, N.H. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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