At the end of October, the Syracuse Post-Standard reported Lockheed Martin had put on hold a plan to shut down a number of facilities, including a manufacturing plant in Akron that employs more than 500 workers.
The story caught state and local leaders off guard.
In a written statement, Lockheed Martin says it hasn’t made any decisions yet.
“Given the current sequestration environment, we have to look across our business and determine what actions are required to maintain our competitiveness and the health of our business, and restructuring is one of the options we consider, but no decisions have been taken," read a statement emailed to ideastream from company spokesman Keith Little. "In the meantime, Lockheed Martin operations in Akron continue to work in support of our customers and our country.”
The plant has been used in recent years to make lighter-than-air military balloons.
Akron mayor Don Plusquellic says it’s just one more example of decisions made in Washington that hurt people at the local level.
“It’s sort of a silly political game there," Plusquellic said. "But this is where there’s real impact on real people. And the thing that’s upset me is we’ve done everything locally.”
Plusquellic says he lobbied Ohio’s elected representatives in Washington to get involved.
Last week, Democratic Reps. Marcia Fudge, Marcy Kaptur and Tim Ryan -- along with Sen. Sherrod Brown -- sent a letter imploring Lockheed Martin executives to keep the Akron plant operating.
Sen. Rob Portman says he’s still looking for more information.
“We’re in touch with officials at the company to find out more information, to encourage them to stay and continue to be a good contributing member of the community," Portman said in a weekly conference call with reporters. "It’s an important plan and we want to do all we can to encourage them to stay.”
While plant closures are for the moment on hold, some layoffs are going forward. The Associated Press reports more than 500 Lockheed Martin employees will be laid off nationwide.
