A Dell Inc. executive told a Winston-Salem City Council committee yesterday that he could not say whether the company would lay off more employees at its Forsyth County plant.
Frank Miller, Dell's vice president of operations for North America, said that "no decision has been made" about the future of the local plant.
"We have a responsibility to run the very best business we can," Miller said. "We must size our operations appropriately."
Dell has laid off about 260 people at its Forsyth County plant since January. The company now employs 1,140 people locally -- down from the 1,400 it employed here in January.
Miller said that the plant was designed "to be flexible" about the products workers there could produce. Since the plant opened in 2005, workers have been building desktop computers, most of which go to commercial customers up and down the East Coast.
"Today, customers are buying laptops, not desktops," he said.
David Frink, a Dell spokesman, said after the committee meeting that he could not say if the plant would switch to producing laptops.
Dell has had at least three rounds of layoffs in the past seven months. Yesterday was the first time the company disclosed how many people had lost their jobs.
Dell has received a combined $22.2 million dollars in incentives from Winston-Salem and Forsyth County, including $14.5 million in site-preparation work. The rest of the money was paid in property-tax incentives. Dell is eligible for as much as $305 million in state incentives, depending on the size of its work force and capital investment.
Under Dell's agreement with the city and county, the company had to invest $100 million in the plant and had to employ 1,700 full-time workers at an average salary of $28,000 a year by Sept. 19, 2010 -- five years after the plant opened.
The plant off Temple School Road, east of Winston-Salem, is valued at $115 million, meaning the company has met the investment portion of the agreement.
If Dell does not have enough employees on its payrolls by the 2010 deadline, it will be required to repay a percentage of the property-tax breaks it received to both the city and county, and will see future tax breaks reduced. The company would have to repay all of the money it has received only if the plant closes by October 2010. So far, the company has not been forced to pay back any of the money it has received.
Donna Oldham, Dell's spokeswoman in Forsyth County, would not say whether the 1,140 people still employed at the plant make an average of $28,000 a year.
"It's a range," she said.
Miller said that the company would comply with the terms of the incentive agreement it signed with Winston-Salem and Forsyth County. He said that the economy was largely to blame for Dell's troubles.
"We're experiencing the sharpest global recession in 70 years," Miller said. "Dell is controlling what we can control."
Members of the Winston-Salem City Council who attended the committee meeting seemed satisfied with Dell's responses.
"I truly understand these difficult times," said Robert Clark, who represents the city's West Ward. "It is impossible to say how many people you are going to employ."
Vivian Burke, who represents the Northeast Ward, said she did not regret offering the incentive agreement to Dell.
"At the time that Dell came to this community, we needed job opportunities and we needed employment," she said.
Charles Humphrey, a resident who spoke to the committee after the Dell executives' presentation, said he was still concerned.
"I haven't heard anything to allay my fears," Humphrey said. "No one is concerned about my taxes and the taxes of the citizens of Forsyth County being used to supplicate bad management. Let's be concerned. And let's be a little more open."
■ Laura Graff can be reached at 727-7279 or at lgraff@wsjournal.com.
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