PEARL, Miss. (AP) - Clorox Manufacturing Products Co. will close its operation in Pearl in 2009, costing about 80 jobs in this city near Jackson.
The company will move the manufacturing of several products made at the Pearl plant to its cleaning division hub near Atlanta.
''The tenure of our employees ranges from two years to 40 years,'' plant manager Scott Baldwin said. ''We've got a handful that have 30-plus years with the company and quite a few that have 20-plus years.''
Baldwin said the plant is being closed to make the company more flexible, competitive and cost efficient.
The Pearl plant produces Pine-Sol in pine, lemon, orange, sparkling wave, lavender clean and mountain energy scents. The plant also makes the cleaner Lestoil, and pads for Clorox bath and toilet wands.
''I don't think people realize that all the Pine-Sol that's made is made in Mississippi,'' Baldwin said in an article in the The Clarion Ledger.
Baldwin said the 65 hourly workers and 15 salaried employees at the plant know about the shutdown and an agreement has been reached with the United Chemical Workers Union that includes a competitive severance and benefits package.
Some salaried employees could be offered transfers to other Clorox plants.
The plant was built in 1969 and was operated by American Cyanimid until 1990 when Clorox bought the Pine-Sol brand. It employed more than 160 workers until 2005, but jobs were cut after Clorox sold its Combat insecticide product line.
Pearl Mayor Jimmy Foster said he thought Rankin County could absorb the lost jobs. The county northeast of Jackson has the second lowest unemployment rate in the state, according to figures issued by the state for June.
''We have a healthy job market in Rankin County and hopefully those employees can be re-employed before 2009,'' Foster said.
