CORTLAND -- 158 people are losing their jobs in Cortland County.
BorgWarner Inc. announced it will be closing its Cortland facility at 3690 Luker Road on the outskirts of the city near the SUNY-Cortland campus.
In a statement the company said, "After an extensive evaluation of the current operations and attempts to sell the business, the decision was made recently to close the facility."
Operations at the plant will be winding down for the next 12 to 18 months. The Cortlandville facility opened in 2001.
Cortlandville Town Supervisor Dick Tupper says the layoffs will have a ripple effect. "Anytime you lose any jobs it always hurts," he said. "This will affect property taxes, retail sales. When you lose good jobs it has an affect across the whole community."
Teamsters Union 317 Vice President Mark May is hopeful that employees will be able to get jobs elsewhere within the company. The union is hoping to sit down with company officials soon.
The troubling economic news spread quickly through Cortland. "I am shocked," said Lin Hill. "I just feel bad for the families. This will impact an awful lot of people."
BorgWarner also owns a plant in Ithaca that is not impacted by this move.
BorgWarner Inc. is based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The company specializes in producing parts for powertrain systems in cars, making products to improve fuel economy and reduce emmisions in vehicles.
It owns 60 facilities worldwide and has several customers including General Motors, Chrysler and Toyota.
