The Journal News, the Westchester daily newspaper owned by Gannett Co. Inc., plans to eliminate 166 jobs in 2010 and put its Harrison plant up for sale when it moves its printing and packaging operations to New Jersey.
Journal News President and Publisher Michael Fisch told production and packaging employees Thursday their jobs will end in early March when the company in a cost-cutting move shifts its printing and packaging operations to a plant in Rockaway, N.J. With the plant closing, the newspaper”™s 232,000-sqaure-foot office and warehouse building at 1Gannett Drive and 25-acre property will be sold.
Fisch said the company has retained the commercial real estate firm CB Richard Ellis to manage the sale. The newspaper could lease back the reduced space it will need or relocate its offices in the nearby area.?“While not an easy decision to make, this will allow us to save operating expenses associated with the printing and packaging center and allow us to avoid major capital investments going forward,” the publisher said in his notice to employees. “It will also give us the opportunity to consider other options for our current facilities.”?Fisch said the plant closing and property sale complete Gannett”™s restructuring of Westchester newspaper operations that began earlier this year. “This approach will allow us to refocus our capital priorities on our journalism, our products, our sales strategies and re-energizing our franchise,” he said.
