Posted on 11/11/2012 4:39:31 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Augusta Mayor Deke Copenhaver and the local development authority insist they are following a playbook that could stop a planned Proctor and Gamble "downsizing" from being a total loss for the city.
"We are downsizing and restructuring," said plant manager Marian Futrell.
The announcement comes just a few years after the launch of two new brands -- the Bounce Bar and Gain in a Bag.
"The morale is high, the energy is wonderful, life is good at P&G Augusta," proclaimed Futrell back in 2009.
Sources have confirmed to News 12 that Procter and Gamble will be phasing out its current plant operations during the next 12 to 18 months. This will impact about 200 employees.
About 40 current employees will stay at the Augusta plant. Fifty more will be offered positions at plants in Alexandria, La. Manufacturing of the plant's dry products will go to the facility in Louisiana.
"It's a huge loss," Copenhaver said. "It is business, though. We are still dealing with a difficult economy."
"Everything now is trying to be lean and mean," said Henry Ingram, chairman of the Richmond County Development Authority. "Obviously, we don't want to lose any jobs. Our jobs is to bring jobs not to lose them."
Ingram says all is not lost. He points to $400 million of new investment in the area over the last year.
"$400 million translates to new jobs," Ingram said.
That jobs will come from new companies like Starbucks. The company is set to open in the same 12 to 18 month time period Proctor and Gamble expects to phase out jobs.
"My hope would be that if that is the case that with Starbucks coming online," said Copenhaver, "with Rockwood coming on line that, some of those jobs available will help absorb some of those employees."
The development authority is promising aggressive recruitment.
"So the ballgame is not over yet," Ingram said. "We had the same situation when Electrolux left, but our relationship was such that we were able to engage to bring a new division back to Augusta."
The full parking lot at the new call center completes that story, but only time will tell how this story ends.
"You are not going to have all wins," Copenhaver said. "You are going to have some losses, too."
Starbucks is promising 200 new jobs. The plant is expected to open late next year. The new chemical company, Rockwood Pigments, is also coming to the area. It will also open late next year. They are promising 140 new jobs.
We have also learned transfer opportunities will be offered to every employee. There are 39 different North America locations to choose from. If employees decide not to transfer, they will be given a severance package.
The severance package would include retraining, an allowance based on the number of years worked and benefits.
If employees decide to relocate, Procter and Gamble will pay for moving and housing expenses.
Once the transition is complete, 40 employees will continue working at the Augusta plant creating new technology and business practices that can be implemented at the Procter and Gamble's plants.
Employees have been given the weekend off to discuss this with their families.
The plant will not close before the holiday season.
Damn shame it is happening in a Republican state.
I am thinking that perhaps Obamugabe is now telling companies that if they shed jobs, they will have to shed them in states that voted Republican.
I prefer to see liberal states bear the pain of Obamanomics.
The decision was probably made at Proctor and Gambles headquarters, which I believe is in Cincinnati, OH, a state that I am now convinced is really Democrat, sad to say. Therefore, you can say although it will affect workers in Georgia (a Republican state) the decision was made from a Democrat state. But then again, when did that ever stop the minions of Chairman Obamao, in his relentless drive to destroy capitalism in America, afterall, he’s only trying to be “fair”, right?
Should’ve invested in soap-on-a-rope instead. Now they’ve got to bend over to pick it up.
Augusta is just over the Savannah River from Aiken County, SC where I live.
The development folks in Augusta have done a good job of keeping, or increasing, the number of jobs there. If a plant closes and they loose 100 jobs, they will get some other business to locate there and bring 125 jobs.
Rarely does a closing end in a net loss in jobs.
P&G was one of the first interviews I had after university 5 years ago. Hands down the most unusual testing for new applicants. One of them I remember, was to make an origami from the object on the table and there was a swan and the rest of the applicants in the room just looked at each other with that ‘are these guys serious’? look..
I try to keep Aiken/Augusta in my periodic job opening sweeps. Columbia is OK though.
The Phillips 66 gas station at the corner of Pine Log Rd and US 78 is hiring.
Proctor and Gamble is no longer a company that is innovative . They cut back on R&D and now just work on figuring out how to create new packaging for products that have not been tested on animals.
That's assuming people have the disposable income to buy Starbucks coffee ~ there's taxes to pay!
And if (the general)"you" don't think the Starbucks execs aren't sitting around the conference table crunching this economy and their future...(the general)"you" don't know what's going to hit ya'.....
HOORAY Marian Futrell @ P&G! Prepare. Persevere.
Absurdly unlikely.
In the current financial climate, mostly to consumers, Starbucks just announced an "improved" customer "bonus" system, so cleverly disguized, that most customers won't realize that the prices have gone up 14%.
For customers with a brain, the response should be the same as mine.
Visits have been reduced by 2/3!
The market for P&G is increasingly in the developing world. They got 37% of their revenues from there last year as opposed to 20% in 2000. And their big rival, Unilever has an even larger % from the developing world
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