Michael Ross

World Kitchen lays off 63 employees By STACEY DANZUSO / Staff Writer, Chambersburg World Kitchen Inc. has announced it is laying off 63 employees, the latest in a string of Franklin County businesses to scale back their work forces. Most of the hourly employees volunteered for the layoffs, said Dave Lanzillo, director of corporate communications at World Kitchen's New York headquarters. He said he doesn't expect the layoffs to be permanent. "This is part of our normal business operations and the business cycle," he said.

waynesboro@herald-mail.com WAYNESBORO, Pa. - The jobs of nearly 250 employees at a Tyco International plant in Waynesboro are not in jeopardy following an announcement last week that the company was closing 24 manufacturing plants at a cost of 7,100 jobs, a company spokeswoman said Tuesday. Maryanne Kane, chief communications officer at Tyco's U.S. headquarters in Exeter, N.H., said Tuesday that none of the 24 plants the company plans to close is in Pennsylvania. Asked how many plants Tyco has in Pennsylvania, Kane said, "dozens.

A longtime Waynesboro manufacturer of cutting tools will be moving to a larger building later this year to accommodate future expansion. Wayne Tool Co., which was founded in 1917, was acquired by Louisiana-based Magnum Carbide early in the summer. Recently, the business owners secured a lease agreement for the old EZ Dumper building on Ninth Street. “We're looking for long-term growth,” company President Mark Wilcox said of the larger building. The investment will be substantial, he said.

By RICHARD F. BELISLE Staff Writer CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Plans to convert part of the nearly 20,000-acre Letterkenny Army Depot to civilian use moved a small step closer Friday with the announcement of federal and state grants to upgrade nine miles of railroad track that run through the complex. The money - $60,000 from the state's Rail Freight Assistance Program and $60,000 from the federal Highway Trust Fund - also will pay for improving eight rail crossings in the depot, said U.S. Rep. Bud Shuster who came on the base to announce the grants.

PHILIPPI, W.Va. - Sophomore Hannah Faith Copenhaver of Mercersburg, Pa., was named to the dean's list at Alderson-Broaddus College for the second straight year. The daughter of John Copenhaver of Mercersburg and Michelle Copenhaver of Greencastle, Pa., she is a 2010 graduate of James Buchanan High School, where she received an academic and athletic scholarship from Alderson-Broaddus and the Glazer Scholarship. Hannah plays outfield for the Lady Battlers softball team.

waynesboro@herald-mail.com WAYNESBORO, PA. It is unknown what, if any, effect the sale of York International, parent company of York Refrigeration/Frick Co. and one of Waynesboro's oldest manufacturing firms, will have on the local work force. "We don't know how it's going to bode here," L. Michael Ross, president of the Franklin County Area Development Corporation, said Friday. "We believe Frick will remain stable based on its product line. It's really too early to tell, but we're cautiously optimistic.

Flextronics will close two Chambersburg plants By RICHARD F. BELISLE / Staff Writer, Waynesboro Flextronics Enclosures, a Chambersburg manufacturing company with two local plants, surprised its employees this week when it said both plants will close in June. More than 160 workers will lose their jobs in the closing, said Michael Cheek, director of operations. Cheek said workers will be paid through June 22 and will be give a severance package equal to one week's pay for each year worked.

More than 85 employers are expected at the second annual “Here to Help” job fair scheduled for Thursday, April 12, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Chambersburg Mall at 3055 Black Gap Road. The event is hosted by state Sen. Richard Alloway II, R-Franklin/Adams/York, in partnership with the Franklin County Area Development Corp. and PA CareerLink of Franklin County. Organizers moved the event from Green Grove Gardens in Greencastle, Pa., to the mall to accommodate additional employers.

waynesboro@herald-mail.com MERCERSBURG, Pa. - The closing in September of the McCoy Electronics factory will cost the company's 50 employees their jobs, a spokeswoman for McCoy's parent company said Tuesday. The plant at 80 Landis Drive specializes in quartz crystals, oscillators and filters for the communications, testing, and aerospace industries. It opened in Mercersburg in 1974, said Corning spokeswoman Beth Dann. McCoy is owned by Corning Frequency Control Inc., a division of Corning Inc., based in Corning, N.Y. Dann said some of McCoy's workers will be offered jobs in another Corning Frequency Control plant in Mount Holly, Pa., while the rest will be given severance packages.

Norfolk Southern opened its $97 million rail-truck facility Monday, creating 126 jobs with thousands more expected. The new facility on 200 acres near Exit 3 of Interstate 81 is part of the railroad's Crescent Corridor, a 2,500-mile network of rail and terminals that reduces truck traffic on highways and cuts carbon emissions, said Dave Pidgeon, public relations manager for Norfolk Southern. “We're up and running and so far, so good,” Pidgeon said. L. Michael Ross, president of the Franklin County Area Development Corporation, said indirect growth from Norfolk Southern could be huge.