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KLA-Tencor to close plant here

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A company that manufactures semiconductor products used by computer-chip companies plans to close its Tucson facility and consolidate operations at its headquarters in Milpitas, Calif., and Singapore.

KLA-Tencor plans to shutter its plant at 3470 E. Universal Way, near East Valencia Road and South Alvernon Way, in July 2009, said company spokeswoman Meggan Powers.

About 100 employees who work there will be offered either a relocation or severance package, Powers said. Not all employees will be given the option of relocating, and Powers did not know exactly how many would be laid off.

Positions in engineering, manufacturing, research and development and management will all be affected by the closure, she said.

The slowing economy has had a direct impact on the company, forcing KLA-Tencor to take cost-cutting measures, Powers said. The Tucson plant closure is one of those measures.

KLA-Tencor has 6,000 employees worldwide and is based in Milpitas, Calif., which is in the Bay Area north of San Jose. The Tucson operations will be moved there and to a recently opened plant in the Southeast Asia country of Singapore.

"Eighty percent of our customers are located in Asia and that's why we moved some of our manufacturing to Singapore," she said.

The company came to Tucson in October 2006 when it acquired ADE Corporation, which previously ran the South Side plant, Powers said.

There was a round of layoffs at the Tucson location in August 2007, but the plant closure is not directly connected to those layoffs, Powers said.

KLA-Tencor also has a location in Chandler, near Phoenix, which won't be affected by the current closure.