Thanks to your gov’t, this giant factory is closing in July. It’s a cigarette factory in Concord, NC and the 2500 $65,000/yr jobs will be no more.

The company says it found jobs for about 20% of the employees in Richmond, VA but contrary to PM press releases and other disinformation, the Concord jobs are not going to Virginia. Transfers from Concord are to fill jobs in Richmond due to retirements and normal resignations. Concord production is moving to Germany where the company’s presence will be appreciated for employing Germans in the manufacture of a legal product, Marlboro cigarettes.

The company expects to gain about .38 cents per pack based on 2007 tax laws here and in Germany. Here, the company has to pay a corporate income tax on its profits world-wide. As an off-shore company, Philip Morris International (PMI) can keep all of its profits for re-investment or for dividends to shareholders. Federal taxes in German — Value Added Tax (or VAT) — will be collected only on products sold in Germany. Exports are not taxed.

BTW: Did I mention? PMI [Oops, see update below.] is building a plant in Germany, much like the 25-year old complex above, for about $1 billion and it expects to pay its German employees about $65,000/yr. Keep your ear to the rail and you will hear when Altria (PMI’s parent) [Oops, see update below.] announces that it will pull a Haliburton and move to Dubai or some such place. Join me in letting our Representative and Senators know how much we appreciate them protecting us from ourselves by effectively outlawing cigarettes.

The Charlotte Observer:

Philip Morris closing Concord plant in July

Philip Morris USA plans to end production at its Concord cigarette plant by the end of July, about a year earlier than originally planned, the company announced this morning.

The majority of the remaining 1,100 workers will be laid off by that time, the company said. Workers were notified this morning, and Philip Morris is working with N.C. and private outplacement agencies to provide services for employees.

Local officials said they were caught off-guard by the announcement.

The company cited an accelerated rate of decline in cigarette sales as the main reason for moving up the date to end production. The economy and the projected impact of a new federal excise tax increase were the main reasons for the decline, company spokesman David Sylvia said.

In June 2007, Philip Morris’ parent company, Altria, said it would consolidate its Concord operations with those in Richmond, Va., by the end of 2010. About 2,500 people worked at the Concord plant at the time, although the company has been shedding jobs as it winds down operations.

Some 530 workers transferred to jobs in Richmond, while hundreds others left for other jobs.

About 140 people were laid off in February. Cabarrus County’s unemployment rate for that month was 11.2 percent.

“Our employees have performed extraordinarily well under very difficult circumstances,” Philip Morris USA President Craig Johnson said in a statement.

Cabarrus leaders remain anxious about the fate of the 2,100-acre site. Philip Morris has been the county’s biggest taxpayer.

The company is actively marketing the site, Sylvia said, but declined to discuss specifics.

Regional real estate experts have expressed doubt about how quickly the site could be sold given current market conditions.

The plant itself will be decommissioned in 2010, although Sylvia did not know exactly when that would be completed. That could depend in part whether a buyer is found, and what their needs are for the property.

The complex includes 2.4 million square feet of manufacturing space and 988,000 square feet of warehouse space off U.S. 29.

SOURCE: The Charlotte Observer

UPDATE:
I should have had my ear to the rail. Altria has already spun off Philip Morris International (PMI) as a completely separate entity. PMI shares have already been issued to Altria stock holders. Although PMI is currently headquartered in Richmond (with Altria) you can expect it to move off shore because PMI will not sell cigarettes in the U.S. and it will no longer market cigarettes overseas that are manufactured by Philip Morris USA.

PMI is the company that is building the $1 billion cigarette plant in Germany. That’s why Altria can issue press releases that claim it is consolidating U.S. cigarette manufacturing in Richmond (as Philip Morris USA) and at the same time not mention that Concord production is being moved to Germany. I see that PMI has not commented on the early closing of the Concord plant that was announced yesterday by Altria.

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