ITT spinning off North Amityville division

A major U.S. company, ITT Corp., next week will spin off its defense division and make it into a separate, publicly traded company, ITT Exelis, which says it will continue to employ 500 people at one of its plants in North Amityville.

Now known as ITT Integrated Structures, the North Amityville site may draw attention Monday when new signs go up, but that's the only change it will see, a spokesman said Friday.

"Soon-to-be ITT Exelis employs almost 500 people in North Amityville . . . and directly contributes to the growth and well-being of the Long Island area," Jim Barber, an ITT vice president, said. The headquarters for ITT Exelis will be in McLean, Va., he said.

ITT Exelis develops key capabilities such as self-protection electronic warfare systems and space microelectronic systems, which includes data measurement systems.

"Though you will be seeing new signs outside our North Amityville operation, we will be conducting business as usual with an even greater focus on meeting our customers' needs," Barber said.

ITT Exelis will debut on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday with the ticker symbol XLS.--