78 jobs cut at semiconductor plant in Essex Junction

ESSEX, Vt. (AP) - Officials say 78 jobs have been cut at an Essex, Vermont, semiconductor business following its sale to a California tech company.

Vermont Labor Commissioner Michael Harrington says the jobs cuts range from top executives to engineers to front-line employees.

A spokeswoman for Marvell in Santa Clara, California, told the Burlington Free Press that the company acquired Avera Semiconductor LLC on Wednesday. Avera is a subsidiary of chipmaker GlobalFoundaries, which bought the former IBM plant in Essex Junction four years ago.

Laurie Kelly, a spokeswoman for GlobalFoundries, says the Vermont plant still has 2,300 employees. She says about 800 moved to Avera, and ultimately Marvell.