Fisher Scientific closes Pennsylvania plant

Hampton-based Fisher Scientific shut down a facility outside Pittsburgh, Pennsaylvania, last week, causing 55 workers to end the year with their last paycheck.

The 46-year-old plant, which once employed 500 people making laboratory equipment and furniture, was one of the largest employers in Indiana, Pa., a small industrial town in the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains.

The company, according to local newspaper accounts, announced the shutdown of the 180,000-square-foot facility last February as part of a consolidation move. Most of the operations were shifted to Fisher’s operations in Dubuque, Iowa — acquired in merger with Aopgent Inc. in 2004 and Malaysia.

“It allows us to maintain a cost-competitive position in today’s global marketplace,” Fisher spokeswoman Gia L. Oei told a local Pennsylvania newspaper last week. — BOB SANDERS