Corning closing 1 North Carolina plant by year end

HICKORY — A cable maker says it will close a plant in North Carolina and move some of the jobs to another location in the same city.

The Hickory Daily Record reported Tuesday that Corning Cable Systems said it would close the optical assembly plant in Hickory by the end of the year.

An undetermined number of people will lose jobs and an official said about a third of the plant’s work force will be sent to a larger facility also in Hickory.

Corning Cable System CEO Clark Kinlin says the changes are part of a cost-cutting initiative. Kinlin also said a large plant under his division will close in the Dominican Republic by the end of 2009.

Kinlin said the company wouldn’t disclose the number of employees or the number laid off for competitive reasons.

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