Wilmington, DE, May 7--Invista, the former DuPont Co. textiles and interiors business, said Friday that its operations at DuPont's Experimental Station will be discontinued by the end of the year.
According to Delawareonline.com, the company informed employees at the Experimental Station this week. It declined to say how many Invista employees are affected by the decision, or what arrangements have been made for them.
DuPont spokesman G. Irvin Lipp said he could not say how many Invista employees work at the research and development site off Del. 141 near Alapocas, though he did say Invista occupies one full building on the sprawling campus.
Altogether there are about 600 Invista employees in the Wilmington area, primarily at DuPont's Chestnut Run site near Greenville and the Experimental Station, said Cheryl Parker, Invista spokeswoman. The remaining 650 Invista employees in Delaware are at the manufacturing plant in Seaford.
The news comes just days after a subsidiary of Koch Industries Inc., of Wichita, KS, bought Invista from DuPont for $4.2 billion. Invista is restructuring to integrate Koch's existing polyester and resins subsidiary, called KoSa, into the former DuPont business. KoSa employs about 5,500 people; Invista employs about 18,000.
Koch officials could not be reached for comment.
James Flickinger, an Invista employee in Waynesboro, VA, and vice president of the International Brotherhood of DuPont Workers, said he had not heard anything about Invista operations at the Experimental Station.
"All I heard is that Koch is looking to reduce costs everywhere," he said.
Just prior to the sale, Invista's leadership was reorganized, with Jeff Walker, former president of Koch Nitrogen Co., named chairman and chief executive. Invista includes six businesses: apparel, performance fibers, interiors, intermediates, polymer and resins, and textile fibers.
Only apparel and performance fibers will remain in the Wilmington area. William Ghitis, a former DuPont executive, was named president of apparel, which includes Lycra. David R. Trerotola, also a former DuPont executive, is president of performance fibers, which includes polyester, air bags and sewing thread.
Interiors, which includes flooring in the residential, commercial and home-furnishing industries, will be based near Atlanta. It is headed by former DuPont executive Alan S. Wolk.
Textile fibers, which includes tire cord and polyester staple and is led by former KoSa executive Gerold A. Linzbach, will be in Charlotte, NC.
Intermediates, led by former DuPont executive Kenneth W. Wall, will be in Wichita. Polymer and resins, headed by former KoSA executive Kevin Fogarty, also will be in Wichita.
Apparel and performance fibers, which together will amount to about 250 people, has been looking for new quarters in the Wilmington area, southeastern Pennsylvania or southwestern New Jersey, Parker said. The Delaware Economic Development Office has offered an incentive package to keep the two Invista businesses in the state, said Judy McKinney-Cherry, director of the office.
