Parker to close industrial valve plant

AKRON (Sept. 30)—Parker Hannifin Corp.´s Fluid Control Division will close a Sinclair Collins industrial valve plant in Akron by March 2004 and transfer production of valves for tire-manufacturing machinery to other company facilities in Madison, Miss., and off-shore. Parker Hannifin said the closing reflected a need to eliminate excess manufacturing capacity in an industry that has suffered sharp declines of late. "This has nothing to do with the skills or the efforts of the people working at the Morgan Avenue plant," said Larry Ryba, Fluid Control Division general manager. "Rather it is a matter of overall poor business conditionsà. We have too much production capacity for the level of sales; and worse yet, there are no signs of a recovery in the near term." Parker Hannifin has owned the plant since 1985. The plant's 37 workers are represented by the United Steelworkers of America.