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Henrico Employer cutting jobs after receiving $1 million in taxpayer money to add them

Posted at 5:52 PM, Mar 17, 2016
and last updated 2016-03-18 17:12:24-04

HENRICO COUNTY, Va. -- A Henrico employer that received $1 million in taxpayer money to add jobs is now cutting them.

McKesson, of which Medical-Surgical Supplies  is one part, laid off four percent of its employees company-wide this week, which amounts to roughly 1,600 employees.

CBS 6 reporter Melissa Hipolit asked the company for the number that were let go in Henrico, but were told they are not disclosing that number.

In 2014, McKesson was awarded half-a-million dollars by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority, and a matching half-a million-dollars from Economic Development Authority of Henrico County for the "purpose of inducing the company to relocate its divisional headquarters in the locality by leasing, improving and equipping a headquarters facility in the locality."

As part of the performance agreement McKesson Medical-Surgical entered into with the state and Henrico, McKesson is required to create 135 new jobs by the end of 2017, and an additional 90 jobs by December of 2019.

An attorney with VEDP wrote "the performance criteria include Capital Investments of $12,200,000 and the creation of 135 New Jobs (over a base of 589 jobs) paying an average annual wage of at least $104,000."

Mary Heather Parch, spokesperson for McKesson, said the company plans to "maintain its presence as one of the largest employers in the area."

 "As a company, we regularly evaluate our operations based on the needs of our customers and the need to remain competitive in the markets we serve. After careful consideration, the company determined that reductions to our workforce across all businesses would be necessary to align our cost structure with our business needs. These decisions are always difficult and the news was communicated to impacted Medical-Surgical employees this week, including those based in our Richmond office. Consistent with McKesson’s shared ICARE principles, comprehensive severance benefits and outplacement services are being offered to support impacted employees," Parch wrote.

A spokesperson for VEDP said the company is still on target to meet its performance goals.

An article from the Richmond Times Dispatch in April of 2015 that listed the region's 50 largest employers, showed McKesson employed 600 total employees in January of 2014, and 660 by January of 2015.

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