About 160 people in Scottsville will lose their jobs over the next 10 months as Sumitomo Electric Wiring Systems ends production at one of its Scottsville plants. The company will discontinue the cable reel manufacturing at the Smiths Grove Road plant and convert it into a warehouse distribution center. It will be the second production facility that the company has shut down in southcentral Kentucky. It closed down its Morgantown plant in 2002, a move from which the community still is trying to recover. Sumitomo Electric Wiring Systems associates at the components plant in Scottsville have produced top quality parts since 1993 when we started this business, said David Jean, executive vice president, in a videotaped statement. However, our parent companies have been forced to stop manufacturing cable reels and to get out of that market. The company will stop production on the reels because of competition. Technological advances in the field were too expensive to continue, Jean said. There has been no problem with the quality of the work done by our associates in Kentucky, Jean said. We are in a difficult situation competitively. Jean met with associates at the plant Tuesday. He said they were disappointed. We are saddened to make such a difficult decision, Jean said. The associates had been told the changes would have to be made to remain competitive, he said. Eligible associates will be offered retention bonuses and benefits and hourly associates will receive base pay increases in early 2004, Jean said. Anytime this many people are affected in a community the size of Scottsville, the whole community is affected, said Allen County Judge-Executive Johnny Hobdy. Hobdy knows the job market is unstable and the loss of the Sumitomo jobs puts more pressure on him and the industrial recruiters in the county. Industrial recruitment is a 365-day (a year) job, he said. There werent very many commuters at the plant, Hobdy said. A large majority of them were Allen County residents, he said. One hundred fifty to 160 jobs is a big loss for us. A new plant will open in the spring in Scottsville. Smuckers will open a new plant just outside Scottsville that will employ about 150 people. Smuckers is starting to recruit their employee base, Hobdy said. Hopefully, theyll be able to absorb some of that loss. The management at Sumitomo tried everything they could to keep the plant open, he said. As hard as it may be on us as far as recruiting, I understand their position, Hobdy said. Well just try to pick up the pieces and move on. This is the second plant to close in southcentral Kentucky in the past few weeks. JS Technos in Russellville will close by July, eliminating 60 jobs. Tyco Adhesives in Franklin will cut 100 jobs in the coming months also. Sumitomos shutdown in Butler County last year eliminated about 700 jobs. Replacing Sumitomo continues to be a top priority for leaders in the county. Sumitomo still employs more than 1,000 people in southcentral Kentucky, Jean said. They will continue operating an injection molding and metal stamping plant in Scottsville with about 280 employees. It also has a plant in Edmonton. The Workforce Investment Board for the Barren River Area Development District is expected to get a warn notice about the closure soon. That warn notice (required by the federal government when plants close) mobilizes a team of state workers who help employees losing their jobs, according to Director George Leamon. Leamon expects that team to be at the plant after the first of the year. Employees will be provided with information about retraining, employability skills, resume development, job search help and direction in obtaining Cobra insurance, unemployment benefits and how to handle pensions.