Albemarle executives notified 200 or so employees in the company’s Baton Rouge offices at Chase South Tower Monday that they will begin relocating most of the positions to either the company’s facility in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, or to its Charlotte headquarters over the coming months.
The local “town hall meeting,” headed by CEO Luke Kissam, came as North Carolina state officials were announcing a $4.3 million grant for Albemarle, paid over 12 years, to expand its facilities and employees in that state. Under the terms of the deal, some 200 or more positions will be created in North Carolina, most, presumably, from Baton Rouge.
The move comes two years after Albemarle announced it would be relocating its headquarters from Baton Rouge to Charlotte with the help of a $2 million state incentive package. At the time, Albemarle said it planned to keep a local presence here, both at the downtown office building, where it employs 200, and at a process development center on Gulf States Utilities Road, where it employs about 250.
An Albemarle spokeswoman says it’s too soon to say exactly how many positions will be affected or when those jobs will be relocated. But she says yesterday’s meeting referred to the positions in the downtown office tower only.
“At this point, as far as what is going to happen to each position here in Baton Rouge, it is really early in the process and the exact number of positions that will be affected is not known,” says Albemarle Communications Director Susan Richardson. “This was just a head’s up for local employees.”
Albemarle’s lease in the Chase South Towers, where it was already downsizing, is up in 2021. Employees who attended Monday’s meeting were told the lease would not be renewed. The building’s leasing agent, however, says she has not been officially notified of the company’s plans.
Albemarle announced Monday it will create 170 new jobs at its lithium facility in Kings Mountain and add 30 jobs to its Charlotte headquarters. In return, North Carolina has agreed to pay the company $4.3 million over 12 years.
Richardson could not say whether officials with Louisiana Economic Development had tried to match North Carolina’s offer or if they were even given an opportunity to try to compete to keep the local employees.
Richardson says she has no update on the future of the 250 jobs at the Gulf States Utilities Road facility, emphasizing the Monday announcement applied only to its downtown employees.
State and local economic development officials could not be reached this morning in time for comment. Follow Daily Report P.M. for updates to this developing story.
—Stephanie Riegel
