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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Owner Hits Off Switch at Van Nuys Lighting Plant

Faced with a continuing slowdown in commercial construction, Cooper Lighting LLC is shutting down its Van Nuys manufacturing plant, resulting in the loss of 69 jobs. Cooper is consolidating the work done in the San Fernando Valley to a plant in Denver. Employees have the opportunity to relocate to Colorado or apply for open positions at other Eaton facilities, including Cooper Interconnect in Camarillo. The Van Nuys plant makes architectural recessed, track and linear lighting systems. Cooper representatives declined to comment on the closure but in a prepared statement said that employees have known since December the Van Nuys location would close. Most employees are expected to be working into July, with a shutdown by the end of September. “Eaton will do everything possible to ensure that those affected are treated with care and respect during this difficult transition,” the statement said. The employees that will be affected include assemblers, but also machine operators, order fillers, engineers and warehouse personnel. The 95,000-square-foot building in the 7900 block of Orion Avenue has been the site of lighting products manufacturing since 1993. Cooper took over operations in 2004 and leases the building from Trailhead Property Investors LLC of Westlake Village. The decision to close the Van Nuys location was made prior to Cooper being acquired by Eaton Corp. plc, a deal completed in November. The Dublin, Ireland manufacturer bought Cooper Industries for $13 billion, the largest acquisition in its history. The products made at the Van Nuys plant are used in commercial developments, a sector of the real estate industry that has not recovered as fast as home construction. The commercial market has been mostly soft after having peaked in 2006, said Nathan Jones, an analyst who follows Eaton for Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. Inc., a St. Louis-based financial firm. “They are significantly below the demand levels they were at five years ago,” Jones said.

Mark Madler
Mark Madler
Mark R. Madler covers aviation & aerospace, manufacturing, technology, automotive & transportation, media & entertainment and the Antelope Valley. He joined the company in February 2006. Madler previously worked as a reporter for the Burbank Leader. Before that, he was a reporter for the City News Bureau of Chicago and several daily newspapers in the suburban Chicago area. He has a bachelor’s of science degree in journalism from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

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