Aerospace parts company Vaupell to close Lindenhurst factory

Vaupell Inc., a maker of plastic and composite parts for the aerospace industry, is closing a Lindenhurst factory, its corporate parent said.

The facility employed 89 people as of early 2016.

Vaupell, a unit of Tokyo-based Sumitomo Bakelite Co. LTD, issued a letter to its customers in mid-July saying the Long Island facility would be shuttered and its production relocated to a facility in Everett, Washington.

“We anticipate this process to take approximately 12 months to complete,” said the letter signed by Matthew Barnett, Vaupell director aerospace/defense operations.

The letter said that Vaupell would purchase new production equipment for the Everett plant to operate “both facilities in parallel for a period of time.”

Barnett declined to respond to questions on the closure, how many workers will be affected, and whether the Lindenhurst employees would be offered positions elsewhere. He said in an email that the company has notified affected parties “of our planned closure” and that he didn’t feel “it is necessary to have a news release or official quote from Vaupell.”

Jamie Moore, president of the Manufacturing Consortium of Long Island, a business advocacy group, said the region’s high costs can stifle efforts to retain businesses.

Moore said he visited the Lindenhurst facility in early 2016 and detailed the grants available to the company, but never heard back from management.

“If you’re a company . . . based somewhere else with a Long Island presence, unless there’s a return on investment . . . you’re not going to continue operating here,” he said.

The Lindenhurst facility, formerly was known as Russell Plastics Technology Co., was founded in 1951, according to Bloomberg. The facility, whose customers include Hauppauge defense contractor GSE Dynamics Inc., supplies composite parts and assemblies for UH-60 Blackhawk and CH-47 Chinook helicopters and other aircraft.

Seattle-based Vaupell Holdings Inc., a company in the portfolio of Miami private equity firm H.I.G. Capital, acquired Russell Plastics in June 2011.

In June 2014, H.I.G. sold Vaupell, including its Lindenhurst facility, to Sumitomo Bakelite Co. Ltd. for $265 million.

By Ken Schachter

kenneth.schachter@newsday.comkschach

Ken Schachter covers corporate news, including technology and aerospace, and other business topics for Newsday. He has also worked at The Miami Herald and The Jerusalem Post.