Signetics Corp. has donated $10,000 to the Save Our Signetics Task Force to help the coalition find businesses to take over the closing plant or hire its employees.
"The company has been working in cooperation with this SOS group since we announced the closure," said plant manager Byron Brown. Brown presented a check to County Commissioner Gary Herbert at the Utah County Commission meeting Monday morning."Signetics felt SOS had gotten to the point that they had done all the homework and needed a little extra help," Brown said. "The immediate need is to prepare brochures to send to potential companies."
SOS Committee Coordinator Doug Kopp said the money came just in time.
"It will be used for the production of marketing materials, the distribution of those materials, for any further research of business prospects and recruitment activities to pursue all possible prospects," Kopp said.
The Save Our Signetics Task Force was formed in February shortly after Signetics announced the plant would close on Dec. 15, leaving 900 employees without jobs. The task force is under the direction of the Utah Valley Economic Association and has been supported by volunteers and donations from public and private companies.
Kopp said the main purpose of the task force is "to minimize the impact of the Signetics plant closure on the 900 employees and their families."
Brown said Signetics is also helping its employees find other jobs. The company is financing free classes at Utah Valley Community College to help retrain employees in fields such as software applications and network systems.
The company also opened a career transition center on June 1 to help employees with job placement, resume writing and interviewing skills. The center will remain open until March of 1993 and allow professional job consultants to work one-on-one with employees.
The task force and Signetics had hoped some money to help retrain employees would come from the Trade Adjustment Assistant Act, which provides financial aid to companies adversely affected by foreign competition. However, the Labor Department ruled the jobs weren't lost due to direct foreign competition.
"We're in the process of putting together some information for the Labor Department to appeal the matter," Brown said.
The Task Force and economic development association have found a number of possible job opportunities. Both hope the marketing materials they have prepared will bring in more possibilities.
"There has been an ongoing effort throughout this situation to follow any leads," Kopp said. "We are following up on these leads and will continue to do so."