The Sumitomo Rubber Closure Taskforce met for the second time, today. It brings together local, county, and state governments, labor unions, and economic development agencies.
Their immediate task has been to address job placement for the around 1,500 people effected by the November closure of the tire factory, something Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said has been going well.
"Whether they [former Sumitomo employees] are applying for unemployment benefits, seeking additional jobs, some people have already been hired," said Poloncarz. "Individuals are in training programs in which the training is covered by Workforce Buffalo with the state Department of Labor. So I'm happy about that, and I think we're still a little surprised that out of 1,000 that were affected, only 320 or so have actually applied for unemployment benefits. But it could also be because they're working."
Town of Tonawanda Supervisor Joe Emminger said the next major component, outside of addressing job loss, is getting activity back to the 102-year-old factory.
"We're being as aggressive as we can," he said. "Working with both Sumitomo, we're trying to get new people interested in the property. I'm still getting calls on the property myself, so public just has to realize, just got to be patient as we work through the process."
Meanwhile, Assemblyman Bill Conrad is trying to figure out why the closure happened, and how to prevent future ones involving international companies. He has a meeting with Japan’s consulate, the home country of Sumitomo.
"Just [finding] the idea of what's going on here, in trying to implement trade and so on, keeping our partners and allies," said Conrad of his anticipation. "And realizing this [closure] has such a psychological impact, but also economical."
The taskforce’s bid process for a real estate firm to conduct an analysis of the Sumitomo plant began in mid-January, and several firms have now submitted proposals.
