Facility Closures & Downsizings: Philadelphia Closing 23 Schools

The Philadelphia School Reform Commission (SRC) approved several program relocations, mergers and consolidations along with the closure of 23 schools as part of District’s commitment to better align resources.

The District began work in 2010 on developing a long-range Facilities Master Plan to standardize grade configurations, increase school utilization and reduce excess building capacity.

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Last December, the District initially recommended 37 schools for closure. After comments from the community, more than a dozen recommendations were modified in February. The District’s final recommendation was to close 29 buildings, including 15 elementary schools, five middle schools, nine high schools and one lease termination. The District currently has 242 schools.

The following schools will close at the end of the 2012-13 school year:

Elementary Schools (12) - Fairhill, Joseph C. Ferguson, Robert Fulton, Leslie P. Hill, Joseph Leidy, John L. Kinsey, Anna B. Pratt, General John F. Reynolds, Walter G. Smith, George Washington, John G. Whittier, Alexander Wilson

Middle Schools (3) - George Pepper, Anna H. Shaw, Sheridan West Academy

High Schools (8) - Edward Bok Technical, Charles Carroll, Communications Technology, Stephen A. Douglas, Germantown, Robert E. Lamberton, University City, Roberts Vaux

In addition, the following recommendations will take effect at the start of the 2013-14 school year:

The Philadelphia Military Academies will merge as one high school at the Elverson building, 2118 N. 13th St. Parkway Northwest High School will relocate to the Leeds Middle School facility.

Motivation High School will relocate to Turner Middle School, 5900 Baltimore Ave.

Abigail Vare Elementary School will be relocated to the George Washington Elementary School building, 1198 S. 5th St.

The Carnell Middle Years Annex at Fels will close.

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AstraZeneca to Cut U.S. Headquarters, Shift Jobs to MD, MA

By: Randyl Drummer

A global reorganization of drug maker AstraZeneca’s global research and development operations will eliminate 650 U.S. jobs, with 1,200 positions cut at its U.S. headquarters in Wilmington, DE, and hundreds of others shifted to facilities in Maryland and Massachusetts.

The consolidation of the company’s global R&D footprint over the next two years will cut a total of 1,600 jobs in the U.S., Great Britain and Sweden, about 3% of its global workforce.

With patents expiring for several of its key drugs, AstraZeneca's revenues have dipped in recent years. The company said Monday's moved will "improve pipeline productivity and establish the company as a global leader in biopharmaceutical innovation."

With the exit of the Global Medicines Development group and the relocation of global marketing and U.S. specialty care commercial operation, about 1,200 positions will leave Wilmington.

AstraZeneca will shift U.S.-based global marketing and specialty care functions totaling 300 positions to an R&D site in Gaithersburg, MD, currently the site of MedImmune’s headquarters and the main location for AstraZeneca’s biologics activities. Another 80 positions will move to its center in Waltham, MA.

Another 170 U.S positions will relocate to other AstraZeneca sites in the United States. or overseas, the company said.

AstraZeneca occupies over 1.2 million square feet of office and industrial space in Delaware in the greater Philadelphia market, including about 900,000 square feet at its campus on Concord Pike in Wilmington, which will continue to house the North American commercial headquarters along with some support functions, the company said.

The changes announced today will lead to an estimated overall reduction of about 650 positions in the US, while around 170 will relocate to other AstraZeneca sites in the US or overseas.

"I recognize that our plans will have a significant impact on many of our people and our stakeholders at the affected sites. We are fully committed to treating all our employees with respect and fairness as we navigate this important period of change," AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot said.

The changes are part of AstraZeneca’s announcement to invest in its R&D centers in Cambridge, UK; Gaithersburg, MD.; and Mölndal, Sweden, in order to co-locate teams to improve collaboration and simplify the company’s global property footprint, AstraZeneca said.

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Facility Closures & Downsizings

Crossroads Systems Inc.

in Austin, TX, cut 30 people from its payrolls, reducing its total headcount to 99. The reduction was primarily designed to reduce operating expenses, conserve cash resources, and align ongoing expenses. More than 85% of the reduction is within research and development. Expected cost savings are approximately $5 million annually. In fiscal year 2012, the company introduced its Crossroads StrongBox product, a network attached storage solution based on tape for long-term archive data. The reduction comes as the development of StrongBox enters its final stages.

.	Company	Address	City	State	Closure or Layoff	No. of Layoffs	Impact Date
.	Portola Packaging	951 Douglas Road	Batavia	IL	Closure	76	4/12/2013
.	Vie de France Yamazaki	1049 Industrial Drive	Bensenville	IL	Closure	71	4/27/2013
.	Chartwells Dining Services	1255 Lincoln Drive	Carbondale	IL	Closure	72	5/31/2013
.	Flying Food Fare Midway	5370 S. Cicero Ave.	Chicago	IL	Layoff	87	4/28/2013
.	FreightCar America	2313 Cannon St.	Danville	IL	Layoff	254	4/18/2013
.	General Cable	1780 Birchwood Ave.	Des Plaines	IL	Layoff	65	4/5/2013
.	Ball Metal Beverage Packaging	1717 Gifford Road	Elgin	IL	Closure	61	4/27/2013
.	Schneider National Distribution Center	26453 Center Pointe Drive	Elwood	IL	Closure	69	4/30/2013
.	4T’s Management	1125 Sycamore Road	Manteno	IL	Closure	72	4/20/2013
.	ARL Peoria Management	500 Hamilton Ave.	Peoria	IL	Layoff	122	4/1/2013
.	L3 Electrodynamics	1200 Hicks Road	Rolling Meadows	IL	Layoff	80	Immediately
.	NanoInk	8025 Lamon Ave.	Skokie	IL	Closure	73	Immediately
.	John Costigan Residential Center	1360 E. Irving Park Road	Streamwood	IL	Closure	107	4/30/2013
.	The Scotsman Press	1658 Clark Street Road	Auburn	NY	Closure	6	Immediately
.	Lakeside Memorial Hospital -Emergency Department and Inpatient Unit	155 West Ave.	Brockport	NY	Closure	383	4/25/2013
.	Oak Beverages Inc.	15 Huron St.	Brooklyn	NY	Closure	53	6/13/2013
.	Canal Escorts	1 Coffey St.	Brooklyn	NY	Closure	134	2/20/2013
.	Cornell University - Animal Science Teaching and Research Center	681 Cornell Lane	Dryden	NY	Closure	37	8/1/2013
.	United Envelope	45-11 33rd St.	Long Island City	NY	Closure	58	5/15/2013
.	Montgomery Logistics	124 Bracken Road	Montgomery	NY	Closure	38	5/20/2013
.	Cabana Seaport	89 South Street, Pier 17	New York	NY	Closure	38	Unspecified
.	Kaye Scholer LLP	425 Park Ave.	New York	NY	Closure	48	12/31/2013
.	Benchmark Solutions	101 Park Ave.	New York	NY	Closure	53	Immediately
.	The Food Emporium	2008 Broadway	New York	NY	Closure	136	6/6/2013
.	CNN America - Starting Point	One Time Warner Center	New York	NY	Closure	40	6/11/2013
.	Vette Thermal Solutions	6377 Dean Parkway	Ontario	NY	Closure	84	3/31/2013
.	Kayex Holdings LLC (SPX Corp.)	1000 Millstead Way	Rochester	NY	Closure	57	5/29/2013
.	Pfizer	64 Maple St.	Rouses Point	NY	Closure	10	12/31/2013
.	Clear Edge Filtration	4563 Jordan Road	Skaneateles Falls	NY	Closure	79	12/31/2013
.	Clear Edge Filtration	4563 Jordan Road	Skaneateles Falls	NY	Closure	79	12/31/2013
.	Endo Health Solutions	865 Merrick Ave.	Westbury	NY	Closure	16	6/1/2013
.	Belmay Inc.	200 Corporate Blvd. South	Yonkers	NY	Closure	60	6/17/2013

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