Quad Graphics will grow Franklin packaging center after plant closes in Massachusetts

Quad/Graphics, Inc. announced March 8 it will move its print manufacturing center to Franklin, Wis. or Spartanburg, S.C. in the wake of its closure in Leominster, Mass. The relocation will affect around 60 employees.

The decision to close was part of “Quad’s comprehensive strategy to optimize its North American packaging platform for continued growth,” company officials said. Client work and assets, such as state-of-the-art printing presses, will be shipped to the Franklin and Spartanburg facilities.

The Quad/Graphics news comes in the wake of Northwestern Mutual recently relocating approximately 2,000 employees to Milwaukee from Franklin. Northwestern Mutual’s plan is to relocate over the span of the next three to five years.

To date, Franklin officials have not heard from any companies looking to take over the Northwestern Mutual campus.

Franklin Alderman John Nelson said Franklin welcomes the opportunity for new corporations to occupy the building.

Speaking as a Common Council member, Nelson said, “We’re open to almost anything that’s going to fill (the space) up. We’ve had the best of the best there for 20 years.”

“Businesses are always making decisions on the best and most efficient use of their property and assets, and I’m glad Quad is going to use even more of its facility here in Franklin,” Franklin Mayor Steve Olson said.

Northwestern Mutual leaving was “not a good thing for Franklin, but we’ll look for something bigger and better to replace it,” Olson added.

Quad will offer a separation package complete with pay, health care benefits, and career transition assistance to workers who were affected by the Massachusetts plant closing, a spokesperson for the company said. It’s not clear yet which employees will relocate to Wisconsin or South Carolina.

Headed by Chairman, President and CEO Joel Quadracci, Quad operates around 45 manufacturing and distribution centers and employs around 15,000 workers, company officials said. The company acquired the 95,000-square-foot Leominster plant when it acquired Worldcolor in 2010.

Northwestern Mutual announced it would invest $500 million to renovate the 19-story North Office building in downtown Milwaukee in February. Workers at the 84-acre campus in Franklin will be moved to Milwaukee in around three years and the remaining building will be turned into investment real estate, company officials said.