SHERBURNE, N.Y. -- Workers at Sherwood Medical's Hospital Products Division began Friday to hunt for new jobs after the company announced the manufacturing plant, which employs about 550 people, would start shutting down in February.
The plant, which has about 400 full-time and 150 part-time workers, is the largest employer in the village, officials said.
'It's an upsetting bit of news,' said Anne Lawrence, an assistant to the village clerk. The village of Sherburne, about 45 miles southwest of Syracuse, has a population of some 1,500.
William Sullivan, the plant's manager, and John Maze of the St. Louis headquarters of Sherwood Medical Corp., informed workers Thursday they would either be discharged or transferred to other company facilities because the local plant would be closed within two to six months after Feb. 1.
The company, which makes medical devices such as catheters, needles and syringes, did not say how many workers would lose their jobs or be offered transfers. In New York state the firm also has plants in Watertown and Oriskany Falls.
The plant will be closed in an effort to reduce overhead costs and maintain the company's competitive position in the marketplace, said Carol Emmerling, a representative of American Home Products Corp. of New York, Sherwood's parent company.
The Chenango County Chamber of Commerce and the Norwich Industrial Development Authority already have begun a search for manufacturers interested in taking over the facility, said Mayor Edmund Lee.
The mayor said he knew nothing about the closing until Thursday.
The surprise closing will have a 'disasterous' effect on the village and is one of the worst pieces of economic news the county has received this decade, said Robert Hammons, a Chamber of Commerce official.
Some employees said they were already beginning to look for work but were worried they would be forced to move out of the rural area to find jobs.
