UTICA, N.Y. - ECR International reaffirmed its commitment to Upstate New York after announcing plans to consolidate production at factories in Utica and Dunkirk.

“ECR International is reinventing itself,” said CEO Mike Paparone. “To begin this transformation, we are expanding and modernizing two of our plants in Upstate New York and investing significantly in research and development.”

Paparone said the company plans to shift production from ECR plants in Rome, N.Y., and Wallaceburg, Ontario, to factories in Utica and Dunkirk, N.Y., resulting in the loss of approximately 100 manufacturing jobs in Wallaceburg, where furnaces are made. ECR will maintain Canadian sales, service, and distribution.

The Rome plant, where air conditioners are made, employs about 80 workers, but ECR hopes to move about one-half of those jobs to Utica, Paparone said.

The changes will begin during the first quarter of 2009 and extend through the fourth quarter. All affected employees will be offered career counseling and outplacement services.

“Naturally we regret having to let go of very capable, very loyal, and very hardworking ECR employees,” said Paparone. “Consolidating now, however, helps position ECR for a future in which we build more factories and create more jobs.”

The changes will not impact production of ECR’s new Freewatt® heat and power system or the company’s joint venture facility in Ningbo, China, where ECR currently manufactures electronic controls.

For more information, visit www.ecrinternational.com.

Publication date: 01/26/2009