P.M. BRIEFING : Sony to Make Tubes at Pa. Plant

Sony Corp. will manufacture color-television picture tubes at a shuttered Volkswagen assembly plant in Westmoreland County, creating about 1,000 jobs in the next three years, Gov. Robert P. Casey said today.

Casey said at a news conference the Japanese electronics company plans to spend about $300 million to refurbish and equip a 600-acre parcel of the plant site near New Stanton, about 45 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.

Sony will lease the property from the state, which will provide $23.5 million in loans and job training grants to the company, Casey said.

About 2,500 auto workers lost their jobs two years ago when Volkswagen of America Inc. closed the assembly plant after 10 years of production. Since then, the 2.8-million-square-foot plant has been on the market.