Operations at the sprinkler manufacturing plant will be transferred to the company's El Paso, Texas facility. The cost-cutting move will eliminate 440 out of 610 jobs in Riverside. Those employees will receive severance packages, said Toro spokesman Don St. Dennis.

The Riverside plant, which Toro has operated since 1962, will be put up for sale, officials said.

About 170 Toro workers in Riverside will relocate to a new office, but a site hasn't been chosen. Toro officials want to stay in Riverside because of the company's "strong attachment to the community," St. Dennis said.

Toro officials plan to work with city and business leaders on finding a new location.

Cindy Roth, president of the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce, said she wants to meet with Toro officials to determine their needs.

She spoke Friday to Toro's human resources manager in Riverside about holding a meeting next week with Toro officials and city leaders, such as Mayor Ron Loveridge and City Councilwoman Joy Defenbaugh.

"We really want to do everything to keep them here," Roth said.

Toro officials cited an intense competitive environment and slumping economy as the reasons to reduce production costs. Closing the Riverside plant will save the company at least $7 million in fiscal 2003, officials said.

Riverside is one of five irrigation plants.

Riverside was tapped for closure because manufacturing costs, which include real estate and labor, are cheaper at Toro facilities in Texas and Mexico, St. Dennis said.

Equipment from the Riverside plant will be shipped to Texas in the late spring of 2002. The transition could last until early 2003, officials said.

Toro has built a reputation for trimming costs to improve efficiency and developed new products to increase market shares, analysts said.

"Toro has done a good job in reducing costs in a focused manner in last two years," said Richard A. Henderson, an analyst who tracks Toro for Pershing/Div. of DLJ. Nevertheless, it's never easy for a community, such as Riverside, to lose hundreds of jobs, he said.

The stock price for Bloomington, Minn.-based Toro, known for its lawn mowers and snow blowers, closed Friday at $45.17, down 83 cents from a day earlier.

Reach Jared O. Wadley at (909) 782-7559 or jwadley@pe.com