Production workers at a Skaneateles Falls-based technology company will be facing job cuts over the next year.

HandHeld Products, a member of Honeywell International's Security Group, will be moving its manufacturing operations to Suzhou, China, said Kevin Jost, vice president of security strategy for Honeywell and former chief executive officer of Hand Held.

"It is our intent to transition manufacturing over the next nine to 12 months. When we are done a year from now, 290 people will be without a job," he said.

Jost said he announced the decision only today, shortly after they had decided. Honeywell will offer these employees a chance to post for positions in other jobs. The company employs about 663 workers here.

The impact on the rest of HandHeld's employees -- technical and marketing people--will be minimal.

"We intend to remain a major presence in upstate New York," he said, meaning the Skaneatles Falls area. "The business is growing nicely.

"This is really about the globalization of the world. It goes back to nothing related to the current economy. It has to do with what our competitive position is."

Jost explained that the parts involved in the supply chain base for the Hand Held products, their technical partners, are already located in the Asian region.

"It has to do with the whole macro competitive environment," Jost said. "If we don't respond, we'll find ourselves behind."

Hand Held's major competitors are Motorola and Intermec, he said.

Honeywell recently acquired the production facility in Suzhou, which manufactures similar products.

"It is unclear if the State of New York or the people of Skaneateles Falls were given a chance to make their case, but it is very clear that the workers whose jobs are on the line deserve to be heard," said U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) in a press release on Thursday.  "Tomorrow I will send a letter to the CEO of Honeywell requesting a meeting to discuss how and why this decision was made, what can be done to secure an alternative to this drastic decision, and Honeywell's long-term plan for the 250 jobs that remain at the Skaneateles facility." 

Jost said that the company would try to help those employees affected to find new employment.

Hand Held's image-based technology has been applied to retail, health care utilities, industry data collection, and transportation logistics., with about $285 million in sales in 2006. It was acquired by Honeywell in October of 2007 in a $390 million acquisition.

The 36-year-old Hand Held is known for Adaptus Imaging Technology-equipped bar code scanners and Dolphin series of wireless computers used for asset tracking and supply chain management applications.

For the full report, read Friday's edition of The Citizen.