Springfield company to close local facility

Credit: Jeff Guerini

Credit: Jeff Guerini


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The Springfield News-Sun was the first to report a decision by National Oilwell Varco Inc. to consolidate its Springfield operations to other sites. The paper will continue to provide unmatched coverage of how the decision will affect the company’s employees and the region.

A long-time Springfield company said Tuesday it is shutting down its local operations by the end of this year, affecting at least 150 employees.

Officials at National Oilwell Varco Inc. said the company will close its Springfield site by the end of 2015, but declined to provide other details. The company filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification notice with the city of Springfield and state officials Tuesday, showing the move will affect at least 150 workers.

However, several local officials have estimated the company employs more than 200 employees.

“On July 7, 2015 it was announced that we are consolidating our industrial manufacturing facility in Springfield, Ohio, into other existing global manufacturing facilities,” said Brigitte Hunt, assistant general counsel for the company, in an email to the Springfield News-Sun.

“The consolidation is consistent with our long-term plan to optimize our global manufacturing footprint,” Hunt said. “We will complete the transition by the end of the year with all Springfield manufacturing being fully integrated into other National Oilwell Varco facilities by January 1, 2016. We have no other comments at this time.”

The notice filed with the city showed the company will permanently close its facility at 1895 W. Jefferson St., affecting all employees. It shows layoffs are expected to begin on Sept. 18 this year. All the layoffs will be complete by Dec. 18. Locally, the company was most recently known as Moyno Inc., a subsidiary of Robbins & Myers Inc. That firm was purchased in 2012 by Varco, a drilling equipment company based in Houston, Texas.

Several details about the announcement remain unclear, said Amy Donahoe, director of hiring and employer services at the Chamber of Greater Springfield. However, she said the Chamber and OhioMeansJobs Clark County will reach out to any employees affected by the move to offer services and help them find new jobs or be retrained, if necessary.

The company has a long history in Clark County, and the decision is a blow to the county, said John Detrick, Clark County commissioner. It has had a presence in Springfield more than 100 years, Detrick added.

“It’s unfortunate but we are a resilient community,” said Horton Hobbs, vice president of the Chamber.

Donahoe said she is reaching out to the company’s human resources department to gather information about skill sets the company’s employees may have, how many people may be retiring and whether any employees will transfer to other locations within the company.

The news came as a surprise locally, but Donahoe said several other local companies are seeking skilled workers, which may make it easier for affected employees to find new work.

“Once we better understand what skill sets we’re looking at we can help transition them to other employment in the community, ” Donahoe said. “We do have some businesses that are growing right now and we have a lot of businesses that are looking for a skilled workforce.”

City officials also had few details about the company’s decision, said Tom Franzen, economic development director and assistant city manager for Springfield.

“It would be a big blow to the city to lose that employment and lose their presence here,” Franzen said. “They’ve been a company here for a long time.”

The company has had a turbulent presence in the city for the last few years. Members of the United Auto Workers Local 902 ratified a contract with the company in 2012 after a four-month strike in which company officials had threatened to fire all its workers or move production permanently from Springfield.

Just a few weeks later, Robbins & Myers Inc. announced a deal in which the company was acquired by Varco in an all-cash transaction that valued Robbins & Myers at about $2.5 billion. Earlier that year, Robbins & Myers had moved its headquarters from Beavercreek to Texas.

The company also later worked with the city and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to be included in Springfield’s urban setting designation. That designation meant the company did not have to clean groundwater in the area to drinking water standards because no one would be consuming it.

The company received that designation in July of last year.

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