SemiSouth’s closure costs Cali firm $60M

A California company will have to write off its $60 million investment in Mississippi’s first homegrown technology firm after the Starkville-based SemiSouth Laboratories announced last week it was closing its operation at Thad Cochran Research, Technology and Economic Development Park. A Power Integrations official says the 2010 investment in the Mississippi State University-faculty founded labs, which produces power conversion and aerospace application components, was "disappointing" but that risks are inherent in business. SemiSouth’s 90 employees will be laid off. There has been no specific date announced for closure. Source: The Associated Press, Oct. 22, 2012.