NORTHROP GRUMMAN TO CLOSE HAWTHORNE PLANT, LAY OFF 530.Byline: Dave McNary Daily News Staff Writer Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) is an aerospace and defense conglomerate that is the result of the 1994 purchase of Grumman by Northrop. The company is the third largest defense contractor for the U.S. announced Wednesday it will close a defense electronics plant in Hawthorne by the end of the year, leading to a loss of 530 jobs at the facility. ``We regret that these actions will result in the loss of jobs, but they are necessary if we are to meet the affordability demands of our customers and win new business,'' said Northrop Grumman Chairman Kent Kresa. ``This consolidation will enable us to concentrate our human and technical resources and operate our facilities more efficiently.'' The move is the latest in a long line of defense plant closures in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, over the past decade, particularly during the 1990-94 recession. During that period, Lockheed Martin For the former company, see . Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) is a leading multinational aerospace manufacturer and advanced technology company formed in 1995 by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta. , Hughes Electronics, Rockwell International Rockwell International was the ultimate incarnation of a series of companies under the sphere of influence of Willard Rockwell, who had made his fortune after the invention and successful launch of a new bearing system for truck axles in 1919. , McDonnell Douglas McDonnell Douglas was a major American aerospace manufacturer and defense contractor, producing a number of famous commercial and military aircraft. It merged with Boeing in 1997 to form The Boeing Company. , General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE: GD) is a defense conglomerate formed by mergers and divestitures, and as of 2006 it is the sixth largest defense contractor in the world[1]. The company has changed markedly in the post-Cold War era of defense consolidation. and Northrop Grumman slashed thousands of jobs in plant closings and consolidations due to shrinking defense funds. UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX economists have estimated that the county lost about 175,000 of the 220,000 aerospace jobs in California that have been eliminated since the defense industry began contracting in the late 1980s. Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman, which is currently bidding against Raytheon Co. for Hughes' defense businesses, currently employs 15,000 people in the region, but that figure will shrink by at least 4,600 by the end of the decade due to the winding down of the B-2 stealth bomber program. B-2 work currently employs about 2,600 people in Palmdale, 500 at Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. and nearly 4,000 in Pico Rivera. The latter facility will close by the end of 1999. Northrop Grumman will put the Combat Support Systems plant up for sale and shift most of its work to facilities in Rolling Meadows, Ill., and Benton Park, Pa. Northrop Grumman plans to offer transfers to about 240 of the 770 employees. The facility specializes in navigation and guidance systems. Work on the Brilliant Antitank weapon will continue in Hawthorne until a production site is selected later this year. The plant closure will not affect 2,800 other Northrop Grumman workers in Hawthorne working on military and commercial aircraft programs, including building fuselages for the Boeing 747 jumbo jet. Northrop Grumman added 250 workers last year for commercial work in Hawthorne. Northrop Grumman also said Wednesday it will close plants in Great River on Long Island, N.Y., Stuart, Fla., and Perry, Ga., leading to an overall reduction of an additional 225 jobs after transfers to other plants. The costs of the moves will reduce Northrop Grumman's 1996 fourth-quarter earnings by $90 million pretax, with $60 million for writing down the value of the four plants and an additional $30 million for the costs of cutting the jobs. Stock of Northrop Grumman was off 50 cents to $77.625. |
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