Manufacturing Plant in Somerset to Close; 330 Jobs to Be Lost

Another local manufacturing plant is set to close due to the troubled economy. Gilmour Manufacturing, a subsidiary of the Robert Bosch Tool Corporation, located in Somerset will close the end of the year taking 330 jobs with it. Bosch will be consolidating its garden watering manufacturing and distribution plant with another plant in Peoria, Illinois. Bosch Spokesperson Becky MacDonald says layoffs will begin in June. Workers will receive severance packages, she says. The Gilmour Plant has been running since 1949 and was ranked as the region's ninth biggest employer in the second quarter of 2008 by the state Center for Workforce Information.