BOARDMAN Plant will close; 20 people to lose jobs

New owners are moving local operations to a plant near Chicago.
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
BOARDMAN -- More than 20 people will lose their jobs at the end of the month when Photogenic Professional Lighting closes after 99 years in the area.
Smith-Victor Corp. of Griffith, Ind., bought the lighting supply company a year ago and now is shutting down the office and distribution center on McClurg Road.
John Davenport, Photogenic general manager, said the new owners are moving the Boardman operations to a similar plant near Chicago. A Photogenic assembly plant in Wooster is not affected by the changes.
Davenport said Smith-Victor officials do not think they need separate distribution centers. Both companies provide lighting supplies to photography studios and other commercial photographers and have customers all across the country.
Davenport said he will become general manager of the Illinois plant, and a few other people either will move to other plants or work for Smith-Victor as consultants. Nearly all of the Boardman plant's 26 workers will lose their jobs, however, he said.
Affected by recession
Photogenic was working on ambitious growth plans until the recession hit a couple of years ago, he said.
The company grew in the late 1990s with new lighting products and built an expansion in 2000, which doubled the size of its plant. With the expansion, employment grew from 35 to almost 50.
Davenport said the company was forced to cut back when demand for its products weakened.
A year ago, Smith-Victor bought the company from Orion Manufacturing of Chagrin Falls.
Recently, company sales had stabilized and were starting to increase, Davenport said.
The sale came as part of the natural business cycle for Orion, which is an investment group that acquires and sells businesses, he said. Orion retained ownership of the Photogenic building.
Companies' history
Photogenic was founded in 1904 in Youngstown and became a leading provider in photography equipment after it was acquired by Lester Kubiac in 1921. The Kubiac family ran the company, which used to be called Photogenic Machine Co., until Orion bought it in 1997.
Photogenic was the lighting consultant for President Clinton's inaugural balls and for a group portrait of 189 world leaders at the United Nation's 50th anniversary in 1995.
Smith-Victor traces its history to the 1870s when photographer James H. Smith began making photographic accessories. The company was incorporated in 1909, with ownership passing through four generations of the Smith family. In 1998, the company was acquired by Promark International.
shilling@vindy.com