By JULIE ANNE INES
Celerity Inc., a maker of equipment used to make semiconductors, is set to close the doors of its Yorba Linda plant in early October and move operations to Allen, Texas.
The Milpitas-based company cited “the cost of doing business in Orange County” for the move, a spokeswoman in Yorba Linda said.
Celerity is in the final phase of closing down its 83,500-square-foot plant near the Riverside (91) Freeway, disassembling equipment bound for Texas.
The company plans to keep a small research and development operation in OC employing about 40 people, the spokeswoman said. Celerity hasn’t decided where the local workers will be based.
The Yorba Linda plant was at peak employment of about 350 people, including temporary workers, earlier this year.
In March, Celerity said it planned to lay off 60 people in Yorba Linda and then moved on plans to close the site.
Celerity employs about 1,100 workers in all in the U.S., Europe and Asia.
About 45 of the Yorba Linda workers are set to move to Texas, the spokeswoman said. The operation there has openings for another 40 positions, according to Celerity’s Web site.
Celerity split off from Union City-based Kinetics Group Inc. a few years back. Private equity firm Texas Pacific Group bought Celerity in 2004.
For more on this story, see the Aug. 21 edition of the Business Journal.
