Delphi's planned plant leaner than first imagined

WARREN -- Delphi Packard Electric Systems is scaling back plans for its new Vienna plant.
Company officials were to ask Trumbull County commissioners today to revise a tax abatement agreement they signed in September 2000 for a new factory near the airport.
The revision would reduce Packard's investment in the plant, from $75.5 million to $58.5, and the number of workers at the plant from 220 to 180. The tax abatement percentages would not change.
"With the economy the way it is, we didn't want to overbuild," said Ann Cornell, a spokeswoman for the company, which makes wiring and related components for automakers and other companies. The new plant would make plastic connectors and clips for car companies, among others.
In the recent economic downturn, the market for these parts has softened, she said.
The company is still finalizing plans for the new plant and has not made the final decision about when construction will start, or even exactly where, Cornell said.
Jobs there will be filled by workers in other Delphi plants according to union procedure. Cornell said it has not been determined which plants the workers would come from.
Revising the agreement would not change the tax abatement on the new plant: a 75 percent reduction in real and personal property taxes for 10 years.