Last modified: Monday, April 28, 2008 2:44 AM EDT The Cookson facility on the East Side of Attleboro. (Staff photo by Mike George) Cookson: 'Committed' to site BY GEORGE W. RHODES SUN CHRONICLE STAFF ATTLEBORO - Since jewelry giant Cookson Precious Metals bought Stern-Leach Co. in 1988, it has acquired a number of other firms and brought some of them to its Pearl Street site. The transfers helped more than double the number of jobs at the facility, which rose from 380 in 1988 to nearly 900 today, said Stern-Metals Chief Operating Officer Dick Smith. Many of the jobs, more than 300, have arrived since 2004 when a complicated deal that allowed Cookson to rehab and reuse the vacant Swank Co. was announced. Local, state and federal governments pledged millions of dollars in public money to guarantee hazardous waste cleanup, paving the way for reuse of the building and the expansion of Cookson operations. The deal brought U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Worcester, and other dignitaries to the city two years ago for a celebration. McGovern hailed the deal as signaling "the rebirth of Attleboro as the jewelry manufacturing center that it once was." In exchange, Cookson promised to add at least 300 jobs. Smith said Thursday that nothing has changed, despite a Cookson plan to help staff a new Dominican Republic factory through various job cuts, some from the area. "We are committed to this site," he said after inviting a Sun Chronicle reporter to tour the plant Thursday. In a city that's been hit hard with job losses from companies such as Balfour and Texas Instruments, which packed up and left taking thousands of jobs with them, the Cookson news was jolting for residents and workers. But Smith, a lifelong Attleboro resident, said the Dominican Republic operation is not the first wave of Cookson jobs leaving the city. "The idea that Cookson will move all the jobs like Jostens did or TI did is not the case at all," he said. "Most jobs going to DR are not coming from Attleboro," he said. "We're committed to keeping the core part of our business in Attleboro." The statement echoed one by Cookson Chief Executive Officer, Richard Powers who was quoted in the first story. "We're here for the long term, that's for sure," he said. Smith echoed the comments in an attempt to calm the shock waves that rolled through the city when The Sun Chronicle revealed parent company Cookson planned "to transfer the equivalent of 200 jobs from our Attleboro (Massachusetts) facility during 2008" to the Dominican Republic for a new factory. The statement came from the company's annual report. The Dominican Republic facility is being built to service customers in that Caribbean nation, Smith said. The exact breakdown of job losses has yet to be determined, but the biggest impact is on the Leach and Garner Co. in North Attleboro, which was bought by Cookson last year, he said. Some of the jobs headed for the Caribbean will be full-time regular jobs from the Leach and Garner plants in North Attleboro and the Virgin Islands. Others will come from "overtime equivalents," temporary employees and outside contractors, according to a press release from Cookson. While the Cookson report, produced at the company's British headquarters specified Attleboro, the writer does not make distinctions between Attleboro and the Leach & Garner Plant in North Attleboro or its affiliates, Smith said. In addition, none of those "equivalent," temporary or contract workers are included in the fulltime job counts done by the company to show the city it's meeting job development goals, he said. Meanwhile, the Attleboro facility, which is made up of the former Swank building on the corner of O'Neil Boulevard and Pearl Street and the Stern-Leach building next door is expected to get as many as 120 to 130 workers from the Leach and Garner operation. Another 60 Leach & Garner jobs were eliminated because the acquisition created "redundancies" or duplicate positions for the Attleboro site, Smith said. Smith, a lifelong Attleboro resident who has worked for Cookson since 1988 and Stern-Leach long before that, said he's sensitive to the impact of job losses and how they affect the community. He called many of the plant's employees by their first name during a tour. They work here and they live here or nearby, Smith said. The company strives to create jobs that last, he said. For example, Cookson has invested heavily in technology over the past 10 years that allows a single worker to run several machines. While it reduces the number of workers over all it makes the costs competitive with cheap labor overseas and creates a longterm job. In any event, layoffs are not done lightly, he said. "Redundancies are the hardest thing I have to do," he said. "It's changed the lives of 60 families." Meanwhile, the promise to add 300 full-time jobs to the Pearl Street operation has been honored, he said, pointing to about 343 jobs that have been added since 2004 when the deal to reuse Swank was announced. Three hundred were required. "We've exceeded what we promised," Smith said. While the economy has hurt the entire jewelry industry and has resulted in business declines of 17 percent and 20 percent in the last two years, the goal to add jobs remains, Smith said. In fact, plans are in place to bring a Cookson-owned company in Rhode Island to the Pearl Street site by the end of the year. That transfer will add as many as 50 jobs, he said. Difficult times in the industry could lead to some new acquisitions because of Cookson's strong financial base, he said. Meanwhile, the decline in business is related to the skyrocketing cost of precious metals and a lack of tariff protection, Smith said. But the aim of Cookson remains to grow the Attleboro campus, he said. On a tour of both buildings, he pointed to ongoing renovation work as proof. The company is actively reconstructing an upper floor of the former Swank building for offices, which are being moved from the Stern-Leach building to make room for manufacturing operations from Leach & Garner, Smith said. Some of the offices were slated to be moved over the weekend. Overall, Cookson has spent about $6 million on renovations and is budgeted to spend $11.2 million, he said. The company has already paid the ARA $800,000 for the Swank building, although the deed won't be transferred until the hazardous waste cleanup is done. The contamination is not considered serious, and Cookson could take complete ownership of the facility by the end of the year. Meanwhile, plans to create a secure campus for the two buildings by closing Hazel Street are on track. The city council has to approve the street closing, which will allow the company to begin combining its properties. The city has also not acted on a Tax Increment Finance proposal the company was promised, said officials from the Attleboro Redevelopment Authority.