OBERLIN — City officials learned Tuesday that 119 employees at World Color Press, formerly Quebecor World Inc., will lose their jobs at the printing company on Artino Street.

“I received notice they will be laying off 119 and closing by May 21,” said Eric Norenberg, Oberlin city manager.

The Oberlin facility produced direct mail products and inserts for magazines. Those printing jobs will be transferred to other plants, said Tony Ross, vice president for communications for World Color Press.

“The decision was made on volume and the economy,” Ross said. “The magazine industry has experienced challenges just as other sectors have in the economy.”

Ross said employees in Oberlin will be made aware of any openings in other plants. In addition, severance pay will be granted based on factors including pay and length of service with the company, he said.

Ross declined to state a median salary for employees or list a value for its building in Oberlin’s industrial park.

The building owned by World Color Press was built about 20 years ago, and Norenberg promised any assistance the city can offer in marketing the structure.

“I met immediately with our economic development staff on developing a strategy to make sure assistance is available for employees and to begin a plan to fill that building,” Norenberg said. “The building is in great shape, and we look forward to bringing in another company.”

In the past, the city’s industrial park has been practically full, said Greg Tisher, director of Oberlin Main Street/Chamber of Commerce, and the small building boom downtown has helped the city’s and schools’ bottom lines.

Tisher said the loss of such a large company is difficult.

“It’s pretty bad. It’s very unfortunate and a sad day for Oberlin,” Tisher said.

Several World Color Press employees declined to comment Tuesday.

Ross said the decision was not a result of the acquisition of Montreal-based World Color Press, which has about 20,000 employees in 90 printing and related facilities in the United States, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru.

On Jan. 26, Quad/Graphics Inc., the largest privately held printer in the United States, announced along with World Color Press that their boards of directors approved an agreement in which Quad/Graphics would acquire World Color.

The expanded Quad/Graphics was to have 30,000 employees serving customers in the U.S., Canada, Latin America and Europe, a news release from the companies said.

World Color and Quad/Graphics had revenues for the 12-month period ending Sept. 30 of $5.1 billion, according to the release.

In October 2008, the U.S. Department of Energy recognized the Oberlin plant as a leader in cutting-edge energy use when it received one of 129 Energy Saver awards granted in the United States.

It slashed its natural gas bill by installing new equipment to recover heat during a process to eliminate air pollutants, according to Roger Starett, general manager and vice president.

The result was a 25 percent natural gas savings — about $250,000 out of the plant’s yearly $1 million natural gas budget, he said.

Vapors from presses were sent through U-shaped material made of the same ceramic material used for the heat shields on the outside of space shuttles, he said.

The pollutants, called volatile organic compounds, were reduced to carbon dioxide, water vapor and usable heat by super-heating them to temperatures of 1,600 degrees, Starett said.

Every two to four minutes, the machine reversed direction and the device reused the heat it absorbed, he said.

Contact Cindy Leise at 329-7245 or cleise@chroniclet.com.

---

Print this story
Report an inappropriate comment

---

In order to comment, you must agree to our user agreement and discussion guidelines.
You must be registered and logged in to post a comment. If you aren't already registered, click here.
If you are registered, click here to log in.
Need help? Email Us.