As Great Plains Manufacturing was announcing its $53 million Salina expansion, Signify announced it was closing its lighting production facility here.
The announcement bodes well for Great Plains, a wholly owned subsidiary of Kubota North America Corporation, as it plans to purchase the 750,000-square-foot facility on South Ninth Street from Signify and convert it into a manufacturing plant for Kubota's SVL65 compact track loaders initially.
READ: UPDATE: Great Plains announces $53M Salina expansion
The sale is expected to close on July 31, 2021, Signify noted.
"In response to the declining demand for conventional lighting, Signify will leverage economies of scale and improve efficiencies by relocating the production of its conventional lighting products from this facility to its facilities in Poland and India," the company reported in a news release issued this morning.
Signify plans to gradually transition production and to cease operations at the Salina facility, still known to many in the area as Philips Lighting, in the second quarter of 2021, according to information from the company.
"The decision has not been taken lightly but is necessary with the ongoing transformation in the lighting industry. Signify will support its affected employees through the transition, and provide resources and training to assist them through this difficult period and set them up for future success," the company noted in the news release.
Signify currently employs 159 people at the Salina facility, a company representative told Salina Post this morning.