Globe to close its Billerica printing plant

The Boston Globe said yesterday that the newspaper plans to shutter its Billerica printing plant by 2010, affecting as many as 200 employees who work at the site. The paper plans to keep its main printing plant in Dorchester.

The decision is the latest in a series of moves by the Globe, a unit of The New York Times Co., to reduce expenses because of declining print circulation and advertising.

"We are closing our Billerica printing plant because we no longer need as many presses to print all the copies of the Globe," publisher Steve Ainsley said. "This has been a very difficult decision to make, but one that will strengthen the financial position of the business."

Many other newspapers have taken similar cost-cutting actions. The Boston Herald, for instance, recently said it would close its sole printing plant in Boston, rather than upgrade its worn-out presses, and let go 130 to 160 workers. The Herald tapped two outside companies, Dow Jones & Co. and Boston Offset, to print the paper. Last year, The Patriot Ledger in Quincy, a unit of GateHouse Media Inc., cut 130 jobs when it shifted printing to the Globe.

Globe spokesman Bob Powers said the Billerica satellite plant will probably close in 2009 or 2010, but the exact timing has not been set. He said it's unclear how many of the 200 workers at the 15-year-old plant would lose their jobs, adding that it depends on negotiations with labor unions and production decisions.

Many of the affected workers are pressmen represented by the Boston Newspaper Printing Pressman Union No. 3. A union official could not be reached for comment late yesterday.

Powers declined to say how much the Globe would save by closing the plant. He said the company is already working with real estate brokers to sell the site, but couldn't say how much it might fetch.

The company has not decided where to print local copies of The New York Times, which have been printed in Billerica, Powers said.

The Globe is printing fewer papers because readers are migrating to the Internet for news and advertisers are following them online. The Globe's average daily print circulation, which exceeded 472,000 a decade ago, is now just over 350,000, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

While the Globe's online readership and advertising are rising rapidly, that has not been enough to offset the decline in revenue from the print product. In addition, demand for classified advertising has shrunk as customers have switched to Craigslist and other inexpensive or free competitors.

In the first half of this year, overall revenue fell 9.6 percent at New England Media Group, which includes the Globe, Boston.com, and the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. To offset revenue declines, the Globe has aggressively cut expenses, including trimming jobs through buyouts and attrition.

Todd Wallack can be reached at twallack@globe.com.