Architectural products maker to leave Carpinteria
Forms+Surfaces plans to vacate its 65,000-square-foot campus in Carpinteria, a move that will affect 50 jobs as it shifts work to Arizona and other parts of California.
The company is in the process of planning its scale-down and expects to be completely out of its three buildings at 6395 Cindy Lane by the third quarter of next year, said Karen Tullis, vice president of communications for the architectural products manufacturer.
“The reason behind the move is that we’re trying to bring some of our closely aligned products lines closer geographically,” she said.
Forms+Surfaces makes wall-cladding in Carpinteria. Roughly a dozen sales, marketing and design staff will stay in the region, though new offices haven’t been identified. About 50 manufacturing jobs will be moved to Phoenix, with some work going to Santa Fe Springs. The company’s Phoenix operation produces a number of glass products that are often incorporated with or related to the wall cladding systems the company makes on the South Coast.
There is no firm start date for the manufacturing withdrawal, but Tullis told the Business Times that it will take several months to complete.
Forms+Surfaces has been manufacturing in Carpinteria for several decades. But when the company acquired Phoenix-based VividGlass in 2009, the addition also provided a location for the firm to expand, Tullis said.
“It’s a bigger facility, with space to grow into,” she said.
Based in Pittsburgh, Forms+Surfaces is a global company with offices throughout the U.S., the Middle East and Asia. The company makes various indoor and outdoor products, from park benches to street lighting. Forms+Surfaces is also the parent company of Cornelius Signage, a specialty signage maker for the hospitality industry.
