ROUSES POINT -- Wyeth will lay off 118 employees in Rouses Point during the second half of January.

Dave Champagne, managing director at the Rouses Point facility, said workers on all three shifts were to be told of the layoffs Tuesday.

"As Wyeth prepares to exit the site, the demand for work is declining," he said.

The layoffs will take effect in the latter half of January 2009, Champagne said.

The company currently has 725 employees at Rouses Point.

AKRIMAX CONFIDENT
Wyeth is scheduled to end its operations in Rouses Point by the end of 2009. It closed on a deal last January to sell the facility to Akrimax Manufacturing.

Wyeth continues to lease space from Akrimax until it can cease operation.

"It's really terrible to lose your job at any time, but particularly terrible at this time of year," Akrimax Vice President of Human Resources and Government Affairs Tim Soule said Tuesday.

He said the job losses have no effect on Akrimax's plans.

"We're full steam ahead," Soule said.

It will become the employer of record on Jan. 1, 2010.

"We will employ the physical and human assets at the facility to drive our business," Soule said. "We'll do anything we can at the end of this transition to restore those jobs."

HELP AVAILABLE
"Wyeth has a comprehensive severance package and post-employment support," Champagne said.

That includes financial assistance, extended health-care benefits, outplacement services and training and reimbursement of educational expenses as workers seek new employment.

Akrimax is working with the Plattsburgh-North Country Chamber of Commerce and New York State Department of Labor through the local OneWorkSource office to track and monitor former Wyeth employees for possible employment as it adds new products to the plant.

John Masella of OneWorkSource and the New York State Department of Labor said his office is already putting a team and materials together.

"We will set up meetings similar to what we did three years ago. We need to wait for Wyeth to let us know available dates."

OneWorkSource can help with interview techniques, resume creation, unemployment insurance applications, use of its Web site to look for jobs and other functions.

SIGN OF TIMES
Wyeth spokesman Jeff Rocke said job reductions have been taking place throughout the company and across the globe since January as Wyeth examines all facets of its operations so it can operate more efficiently.

In addition to Rouses Point, this round of layoffs includes 71 jobs at Pearl River and 124 in Sanford, N.C.

Rocke said efforts to maximize efficiency will continue.

"It is part of an ongoing process across Wyeth to assess what our business needs are, aligned with our manufacturing requirements at our manufacturing sites. That's part of doing business in the present environment."

Soule said Akrimax has products of its own it is bringing to the plant.

"We are actively marketing the facility to other pharma companies to manufacture their products within this facility," he said.

The facility and workforce are keys to those efforts, Soule said, as there is a strong 70-plus-year legacy in Rouses Point.

"This is a great facility. It's all about the people -- the quality of the workforce here in the North Country."

Rouses Point Mayor George Rivers said he learned about the layoffs Tuesday afternoon.

"Any time you lose jobs, it can hurt. The good news, if you can call it that, is it's not Detroit."

Rivers said it does provide some comfort to know that the layoffs haven't changed Akrimax's plans for the plant.

"In a couple years, it (employment level) will probably be back on track and back to what it used to be."

dheath@pressrepublican.com