ROTTERDAM — Plans to move the Von Roll USA headquarters from Atlanta to Rotterdam remain on hold after a massive turnover of the company’s management last year.

The company has also delayed a capital project at its 22-acre plant off West Campbell Road that they first pitched in August 2007, town officials said. Karen Toth, Von Roll’s environmental health and safety manager, said the relocation and expansion was frozen after a worldwide replacement of all the company’s leadership, down to the plant general managers.

“With the management team being new, they’re just re-evaluating all projects worldwide,” she said, explaining the lack of progress didn’t necessarily mean the project wouldn’t happen eventually.

Sven Ohligs, the Swiss-based electrical insulation company’s head of corporate communications, said Von Roll had encountered “time consuming” challenges in late 2007. He said a strategic review of the Von Roll’s business is now under way.

“Past plans about large-scale projects will be reviewed as part of this process,” he said in an e-mail.

Despite these challenges, Ohligs indicated Von Roll had experienced pronounced growth during the first half of 2008. He said Von Roll experienced 24 percent growth among its American holdings, beating the company’s 19 percent growth worldwide.

In 1997, electrical wire manufacturer Austral Insulated Products entered a strategic market alliance with Von Roll Isola in Switzerland, creating Austral Von Roll Isola. The Swiss company in 2003 purchased Austral Von Roll, of which Von Roll USA is a subsidiary; the company’s facility in Rotterdam employs about 100 people.

Metroplex Development Authority Chairman Ray Gillen said he’s met with Von Roll’s new management team and the operations in Schenectady County remain important for the company. He remains confident Von Roll will eventually move forward with their expansion plans in Rotterdam.

“It is very common right now given the current economic climate for companies to closely study capital projects,” he said. “It is even more common when a new management team comes into place.”

Company officials drew headlines in July 2007, when they announced Von Roll would move its headquarters to Rotterdam. State and county leaders indicated the company committed to creating up to 50 jobs over a five-year period.

State officials indicated Von Roll’s expansion project would make the company eligible for a $400,000 Empire State Development grant and enable tax benefits through the region’s Empire Zone. National Grid offered the company $250,000 through its capital investment incentive grant.

One month after the proposal, the company submitted plans to the Rotterdam Planning Commission detailing an aggressive expansion of their existing facilities, including a new 2,000-square-foot laboratory and 5,500-square-foot office building. The project also included constructing a 17,000-square-foot addition to Building 14 and a 12,000-square-foot addition to Building 33, among other improvements.

Then last fall, Von Roll officials contacted the town asking that their proposal be temporarily suspended.

“They’ve basically asked us to keep the project on hold,” said Rotterdam Town Planner Peter Comenzo.

Katie Krawczyk, a spokeswoman for Empire State Development, said the company also hasn’t sought out any of the benefits they were offered last year.

SUIT AND COUNTERSUIT

The company and several former workers also are involved in civil actions against one another.

Four former Von Roll employees accused of corporate espionage filed a countersuit against the company, alleging their former employer maligned them after learning of their private business venture last year.

Former Austral Von Roll Chief Executive Officer Jack Craig, Operations Manager Brett Portwood, General Manager Brad Archambeau and Vice President of Operations Linda Belcher filed the suit in U.S. District Court in Albany last week. Each asks for $10 million in relief from the company, according to the 43-page claim.

In the lawsuit, the four former employees refer to the Von Finck family “taking over” the board of directors of an unnamed holding company in control of Von Roll during summer 2007. Portwood, Archambeau and Belcher claim they were alienated by the company following the takeover, prompting them to discuss a new business venture with Craig, who left the company in July 2006.

“During the time they were considering whether to leave Von Roll and go into business for themselves, [they] continued to faithfully perform their job responsibilities for Austral,” the court documents state. “For example, in the months leading up to his resignation, Mr. Archambeau closed several large sales contracts on Austral’s behalf, with the approval of Von Roll’s senior management.”

In December 2007. Von Roll filed a suit against Craig, who they accused of using his son as a mole at the electrical insulation manufacturer’s Rotterdam facility to access proprietary information as he prepared to create a competitor company. Craig’s son Jason was fired from the company in November 2007, three days after Portwood, Archambeau and Belcher simultaneously resigned from their posts.

The company’s suit against the four and Jason Craig claims they conspired to steal product specifications and other non-public data to open a competing business. The four named in the countersuit are now listed as employees at the Georgia-based Craig Wire Products.