PECOS, Texas (April 3, 2001) — Smithers Scientific Services Inc., citing a lack of business, is closing its Pecos automotive and tire testing center.
The move will affect 31 salaried and hourly employees, who are being offered equivalent jobs at other Smithers locations, or could take a severance package, the company said.
Smithers acquired the 5,800-acre facility in 1987 from Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Co., and served multinational companies in the tire and automotive sectors.
For the last several years the company hasn´t been able to generate sufficient volume for the complex, and the consolidation of the tire industry and, most recently, the automotive industry downturn has hurt its effort to increase the client base, said J. Michael Hochschwender, Smithers president and CEO. The center is for sale.