British medical products maker Smith & Nephew is closing its St. Petersburg operation and laying off 108 workers here next year, signaling the end of a prolonged pullout from the area.
Smith & Nephew management told workers Monday that work would shift to Fort Worth, Texas, as part of consolidating its commercial operations.
“The decision to close St. Petersburg was a difficult one,” the company said in a statement. “However, we believe Smith & Nephew’s Advanced Wound Management business in the U.S. will be more successful operating from a single location.”
In 2007, Smith & Nephew announced plans to close its wound treatment production facility in Largo and move production to China, a process that began two years later as it cut 160 jobs here.
At the time, the company pledged to keep the wound division’s sales and administrative offices in the bay area by moving them to the Carillon Business Park in St. Petersburg.
In a layoff notice filed with the state Monday, however, Smith & Nephew indicated that workers in its Carillon location would be laid off between Jan. 9 and Dec. 31.
Smith & Nephew closing St. Petersburg office, laying off 108 11/10/14 [Last modified: Tuesday, November 11, 2014 12:35am]
