Manufacturing plant to close in Maysville, Ky.

MAYSVILLE, Ky. - A plant in Northern Kentucky that provides electrical and mechanical systems for manufacturing plants will be shuttered in the next 18 months.

Emerson Industrial Automation spokesman Rob Amberg told The Ledger Independent that employees at the Power Transmissions Solutions facility were told on Wednesday that layoffs would hit the plant.

The shutdown of the plant marks the second announced closure of a Maysville facility by Emerson Industrial Automation. The company announced in January 2011 that it would close a similar plant at another location in town. Work force reductions have been ongoing since 2010 with an announcement of potentially 100-150 job losses.

Amberg did not say how many employees would stay in Maysville, but said sales, marketing, IT and customer support workers would remain in the city. He did not say how many people would lose their jobs once the shutdowns are complete.

Area residents were hopeful when one of the plants changed names from Browning Manufacturing to Emerson Industrial Automation, but officials say the change only marked the nature of the work inside, not a revitalization of the plant.

An EIA spokesman has said the jobs would move to a production facility in Monterrey, Mexico.