Xerox layoffs, Circuit City shutters, Chesapeake CEO on Dem gov’t
Journal Record
November 5th, 2008


Xerox to cut jobs

NewsOk.com reports that Xerox will cut 100 jobs by 2009, leaving about 70 people at their OKC facility. They will also cut toner production and consolidate into one building.


Electronics retailer to close some OKC stores

Also in sad business news, electronics retailer Circuit City is shuttering two stores in the metro – one in the University North Park shopping center in Norman and one at 3625 Northwest Expressway near Penn Square Mall.

Chesapeake CEO: Compressed natural gas looks promising under Dems

In brighter news, Bloomberg is reporting that OKC’s Chesapeake Energy Corp. CEO Aubrey McClendon speculates his company could benefit from the recent landslide for soon-to-be-president Barack Obama.

McClendon said “The Democrats have been very engaged about compressed natural gas in the last few months,” in an Oct. 28 telephone interview. “A Democratic administration is more likely to pursue the use of CNG as a fuel.”

Xerox announces it will close portion of Oklahoma City manufacturing operations
OKC Business

11/5/2008

Xerox Corporation announced today it plans to discontinue toner manufacturing operations at its Oklahoma City facility.
The company plans to eliminate 100 positions from the current 170-person work force in the next two months.

"These reductions, while very difficult decisions, help us reduce our cost base and drive operational improvements across the board," Richard Schmachtenberg, senior vice president, Consumables Development and Manufacturing Group, said in a statement. "Globally Xerox customers are printing more color, while more Xerox devices are being designed to use the more environmentally friendly chemically produced toner, leading to a decline in demand for the conventionally produced black toner manufactured in Oklahoma City.”

Existing facilities in the U.S. and Europe are expected to meet the current demand, officials said.

The Oklahoma City site, built in 1974, covers 120 acres and has three buildings, making up 863,000 square feet of manufacturing and office space. One building on the site will be closed and the remaining manufacturing will be consolidated in one building.

If only this were a problem that local government incentives could fix...

I hate to see this stuff. Can you imagine all the people from the Bell/AT&T/Lucent factory or the GM plant?

Thanks for the info.

rumor on the stock boards is that BP is looking at buying parts of the company (CHK) or the whole thing due to cheap stock price. just a rumor, who knows!

the circuit city in norman just opened didn't it? already closing?

They said on the news last night that the main thing they produce there is black ink. Said there wasn't much demand for it these days. That being the cause of the lay offs.

I find that odd. What? Are people printing reports in magenta these days?!

Or is it the bottom feeder recycled ink refill companies that are digging out the profits from underneath Xerox and the like?

the circuit city in norman just opened didn't it? already closing?

Please see the following link for discussion on Circuit City:

http://www.okctalk.com/okc-metro-area-talk/14705-circuit-city-closing-okc-stores.html

My guess is that they are importing the stuff for less $ just like everything else.

Sad as it sounds, that's likely not very profitable for that plant and well-compensated employees unless they were building printers, copiers, and other more-profitable product. If they are even dealing in ink anymore, it's probably pennies on the dollar to import versus manufacturing it here...regardless of quality.

rumor on the stock boards is that BP is looking at buying parts of the company (CHK) or the whole thing due to cheap stock price. just a rumor, who knows!

Saw that yesterday too, it was reported in several news outlets including our local ones as well. For our sake, I hope it doesn't come even close.

I also saw on the news last night layoffs are occuring in January for some company here in the city on the SW side that makes tanker cars for railroads. They are closing completely and will loose several hundred jobs. They also told about some solid rumors of other locals with projected layoffs. Not good news.

One of my friends at BP, in Utah said that they had some top management in their office this week, and they mentioned the hostile takeover of Chesapeake. So, it could happen soon!