Plexus Corp. announced today it will close its Ayer, Mass., manufacturing facility by March 2009, eliminating 170 jobs, and move products made there to other locations, primarily Neenah, Wis. Plexus provides electronics manufacturing services, including mechanical, electronic and software design, to companies in the wireless/wireline, medical, aerospace, industrial and defense and security markets. President and CEO Dean Foate said the company evaluated the long-term viability of each of its US manufacturing locations. "After this analysis, we determined that our Ayer facility was not strategically aligned with our future growth prospects. We also concluded that we could deliver greater value to our Ayer facility customers by providing services at other Plexus locations, primarily in the United States," he said. In addition to Neenah, where its headquarters are also located, the sites of Plexus' other US manufacturing facilities are Appleton, Wis.; Boise, Idaho; San Jose, Calif.; and Chicago. The company said closing the 65,000-sq-ft plant situated about 35 miles from Boston will initially cost $2 million but will ultimately save Plexus approximately $4 million to $5 million a year. For more information, visit: www.plexus.com