Wisconsin’s latest plant closing was not a total surprise, but 190 people will still lose their jobs when Thermo Fisher Scientific begins to shut down its Two Rivers wood plant in March of 2012.
Thermo Fisher, one of the community’s largest employers, will move the work to its plant in Round Rock, Texas, citing antiquated facilities in Two Rivers. The plant has produced wooden laboratory furniture for Thermo Fisher, a Waltham, Mass. company that employs 30,000 people worldwide.
About 150 non-manufacturing workers will remain in Two Rivers, but the action is Thermo Fisher’s second plant closing in recent months. In November, Thermo Fisher closed another local factory, impacting 120 workers.
At the height of its association with Two Rivers, the company employed 1,100 people here. City officials offered Thermo Fisher incentives to stay, and they now want the company to pay for any environmental remediation that could pave the way for future development.
Thermo Fisher, which has a facility in Madison, still employs about 1,200 people in Wisconsin.
