Mattoon – What started as a rumor on Monday was fact by Thursday. GE is planning to close its lamp plant in Mattoon next year.
“The plant manager called me and told me their plans were to close the plant after 70 years in Mattoon,” Mayor Tim Gover told WAND’s Doug Wolfe Friday in his city hall office. “Good corporate neighbors and I’m just really disappointed and saddened to see them leave.”
GE tells WAND news the proposed closure is subject to “an idea generation period” where employees can offer alternatives to the plan. Otherwise, the plant will phase out operations by August 2017.
GE says the lighting industry has seen a major technology pivot away from traditional lighting. Consumer demand for traditional lighting is at an all-time low and that shift has been supported by the U.S. government phasing out incandescent bulbs. As a result, the Mattoon plant is operating at below 60% of capacity.
GE Lighting is focusing entirely on growth in LED technology. By 2020, half of the US markets consumer light bulb sockets and more than 80% of all global lighting revenues will come from LED.
The company also announced the closing of 2 similar plants in Lexington and Somerset, Kentucky. An appliance plant will also be closed this month in Bloomington, Indiana.
“At one time, at their peak, they employed probably 1,800 people and that was when they were making flash bulbs for cameras,” the mayor stated. Mayor Gover believes the GE plant currently employs fewer than 200 workers, possibly around 150 employees.
GE declined to disclose the number of workers that could lose their jobs.
