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P&G to relocate 160 jobs out of Lewisburg by spring 2011

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By John Nolan, Staff Writer Updated 5:06 PM Thursday, November 18, 2010

Procter & Gamble Co. said Thursday it will close its Lewisburg pet food plant by the end of January 2011 and transfer 160 employees from the pet care research and development center to the Cincinnati area in April, eliminating all but about 70 P&G jobs in Lewisburg.

The pet food plant employs 36 people. Some have accepted other jobs within P&G or are considering transfers to other P&G positions, company spokesman Jason Taylor said. Any who cannot find, or do not want, a suitable position elsewhere within the company will be offered severance benefits, he said.

The changes will not affect P&G’s Pet Health and Nutrition Center and its 70 employees in Lewisburg, P&G spokesman Jason Taylor said.

The Lewisburg plant is P&G’s oldest pet food production facility, Taylor said. Its production will be absorbed by the company’s other pet food plants in Leipsic, Ohio; Aurora, Neb., and Henderson, N.C.

It is the latest round of bad news from P&G for the Preble County community. In November 2009, the company said it would move nearly 190 jobs in its Iams and Eukanuba pet food operations in Lewisburg to other locations, including Mason just north of Cincinnati, beginning this year. P&G also announced plans to relocate about 145 employees of the Lewisburg pet care research and development operation to P&G facilities in Cincinnati and Mason from 2010 through 2012.

Much of P&G’s pet care business is already in Mason. P&G officials believe that the consolidation will improve efficiency and cut costs, Taylor said.

P&G said it will decide later what to do with the Lewisburg pet food factory and the Lewisburg Innovation Center facility.

In October 2009, P&G moved the 240-employee headquarters of its North American pet food operations from Vandalia to the company’s Mason facility.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or jnolan@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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