FRIPA members agreed to reach out to city officials and to Philips to see if they could begin work now to fill the building quickly.

Kevin P. O'Connor Herald News Staff Reporter @HNKPO

FALL RIVER – Philips Lighting has always been a good resident of the industrial park. There is no reason to believe that will stop, just because the company is leaving town, company neighbors say.

The Fall River Industrial Park Association wants to return the favor by offering Philips help with its move.

That includes helping Philips sell their factory and helping laid-off workers find new jobs, according to Karl Hetzler, president of the FRIPA.

“We have to worry about the effect of a 300,000 square foot building sitting vacant in our park,” Hetzler said.

“As an association, we can form a collective position. But I would argue that our role would be to help get new owners in who would bring as many jobs as possible to that facility.

“We hope it will be manufacturing jobs, because that would be best for Fall River.”

Philips was an active part of the industrial park, Hetzler said. The company hosted the FRIPA meetings for years and worked with neighbors when building its 415-foot wind turbine to address neighborhood concerns.

Hetzler got the approval of FRIPA members at the monthly meeting Thursday to reach out to city officials and to Philips to see if they could begin work now to fill the building quickly.

Philips officials announced on April 20 that it would shut down its plant at 631 Airport Road and move manufacturing jobs to Mexico. It said 160 people will lose work.

“We should be able to sit with city leaders and elected officials to map out a plan with Philips,” Hetzler said. “If Philips is willing to let that happen, then we need to start working and thinking about who we know who could go in there and become the next Philips Lighting.”

Members suggested the organization get building specifications so they could spread the word the building will become available sometime early next year.

Milton Goncalves, vice president of operations at Matouk, the linens company, said he reached out to the human resources department at Philips, offering a list of their available jobs.

“We could get all our members together to prepare a list of our openings and the skills we hire,” Goncalves said.

“That is a good idea,” Hetzler said. “Let’s start with the people, who are the most important.”

“We can also use our resources and our Rolodexes to reach out to companies that might be looking for industrial space here in Massachusetts.”

The group will contact Philips first to offer help and then arrange a meeting if Philips officials want to meet, Hetzler said.

Email Kevin P. O’Connor at koconnor@heraldnews.com.