The Conservative Cave
Current Events => Breaking News => Topic started by: debk on January 06, 2009, 10:32:19 PM
-
Don't know if this is the right forum....
We have been pretty well protected in this part of the state from job layoffs with the exception of the housing industry until today.....
3 major employers here informed employees that they were going to be out of work....
ALCOA is laying off 450 by mid March...they are shutting down a whole section of their facility.
SeaRay Boats is putting an entire facility into "mothballs"....300 will be notified by Friday, some will also be in their headquarters which is located here.. My best friend's daughter is a production engineer for them. She was the only one left in her dept. Those staying will be furloughed one week a month at least until June.
Goody's Clothing is going out of business....1100 employees here will be out of work shortly....their headquarters are also here.
That's a lot of people in one day.....ALCOA and SeaRay are high paying hourly jobs, and there are a lot of execs at Goody's.
Big blow to this area..... :(
-
Get used to this type of news. It's happening all over and it's only going to get worse. I thank God that I have at least SOME income for the rest of my life.
-
Get used to this type of news. It's happening all over and it's only going to get worse. I thank God that I have at least SOME income for the rest of my life.
I know.....
2000 jobs in one day for this area is an incredible amount of people.
This is going to have a tremendous ripple out effect in this area. Goody's was a huge contributer to Children's Hospital, too.
-
Nationwide ALCOA is cutting 13,500 jobs, on top of getting rid of 1700 contract positions. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090107/ap_on_bi_ge/alcoa_job_cuts_6
I spent five years at their Davenport works when I was younger. It was alot of work, and alot of hours, but for the most part it was ok at the time. They paid me very well.
-
I wonder about the folks who got bailouts.... Last time they went to the congress with hat in hand congress let them have the money even though 90% of the mail was screaming "No!" The auto makers will be back. Will congress listen next time? There are lots of business out there with better claims than GM or Chrysler.
It has been awful watching this since September. I think it will only get worse for a while.
-
I hate to say this............but it's needed. Just like our area, we were overloaded with retailers all selling the same thing, Meryvns, OSH, ad-nauseum........ and we only have a pop of 100K.
Boats are a big ticket item, and honestly do we really need 10 different manufacturers of the same thing??? (we have the Sacramento River nearby) Everybody and their uncle made "river boats". But recently many have gone out of business.
Supply and demand people.
-
Goody's Family Clothing was started in this area, and has been around for 50 yrs. When it was family owned (Bob Goodfriend, the son, lives here) it was doing quite well. Goodfriend sold it 4-5 years ago, and they have been having trouble ever since. Not sure what the problems have been, but they compete with Walmart, Target, Penney's. I'm sure Ross's and Marshall's have had a real effect on them too. Plus, they were almost totally clothing, whereas, the other stores are more "one-stop" shopping. All the others are putting in new stores in the area. As i said, they are huge contributors to Children's Hospital (Goodfriends' son was literally "saved" at the hospital), holding a couple of huge events a year that each raise LOTS of money for the hospital. Goody's has been the primary contributor to the hospital which is the only Children's Hospital in the area.
ALCOA has a "town" built around it, between Knoxville and Maryville. Most of those people live right in that area.
Since we are located within the TVA system, not only do we have the river, there are 7 lakes in the system.
SeaRay/Brunswick (bowling, sporting goods) headquarters are here. They had already laid off several employees. I know it's a supply/demand thing, but, they too are also huge sponsors to charitable events in the area.
I know it's happening all over the country. I recognize that.
But, you know...I guess that's just it....it's been happening somewhere else. Not in my backyard.
And while it's been scary for the potential repercussions to the national economy, and heartbreaking for the people affected, as it has happened in other parts of the country....it hasn't happend to people I know, to people who I see in the grocery or out to dinner...it hasn't happened in my little part of the world.
That sounds so incredibly selfish and self-centered.....and really not meant that way.
However....maybe that's part of the answer to what's been happening in this country.
IT...whatever "it" may be ....natural disaster, plant closings, man created disasters.... they happen SOMEWHERE else....and unless IT happens in our own personal area.....we "separate" ourselves from the situation.
20 miles from me, is the huge ash spill from the TVA fossil plant. This will have an effect on the area for years, it may never come back to what it was originally. It's a horrendous mess. People have lost their homes, many fear what breathing this stuff in will do to their health. 1.1 billion TONS of toxic sludge was spilled out of a retaining pond into the area. It too, has made national news for the last 2 weeks.
Have we become so insulated in our own little worlds, so into "I, me, mine", that unless it affects us personally...or people we personally know....that it's just "another crisis on TV"?
Do we see so many news reports or movies of mayhem, disaster, etc,....that we become somewhat immune to the reality of them...until it rears it's ugly head in our own backyard?
Is all of this economic crisis, wars, terrorists, natural disasters.....some part of a divine plan where God is telling us to wake up and pay attention to Him, our children, families and friends...to what's really important. Is this like a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah or The Great Flood?
-
Economy of Scale and/or lack of diversification can deal local economy's a lethal blow during economic downturns.
Around here the local economy's had relied way to heavily on positive economic impact from fort Hood. They learned the hard way during DS1. Since then the community leaders have been a wee bit more amicable about courting and/or making economic concessions for business.
There are currently in the neighborhood of 25K troops from Ft. Hood deployed to the middle east and numerous others deployed to Germany,Cuba and elsewhere. Yea the deployments have affected the economy here but it's been more of a pinch than the near knockout blow from DS1.
-
Even my area has been struck by downscaling and a lack of decent jobs. Pretty much, unless one is in the medical profession, the only jobs to be found around here are in sales or the service industry. Cigna, a major employer in the area, is cutting jobs, too.
-
I just read today that Caterpillar is moving one of their lines, (600 jobs possibly) to a new plant in Arkansas. Is Arkansas a right to work state?
-
I just read today that Caterpillar is moving one of their lines, (600 jobs possibly) to a new plant in Arkansas. Is Arkansas a right to work state?
Yes.
Google is your friend. (http://www.nrtw.org/b/rtw_faq.htm)
-
Yes.
Google is your friend. (http://www.nrtw.org/b/rtw_faq.htm)
I see Tennessee is also on that list, which explains why another major employer , (Tate &Lyle formerly AE Staaley Mfg.), recently built a plant there. Strange , how so many states on that list are seeing an increase in manufacturing jobs.
-
I see Tennessee is also on that list, which explains why another major employer , (Tate &Lyle formerly AE Staaley Mfg.), recently built a plant there. Strange , how so many states on that list are seeing an increase in manufacturing jobs.
There's a new Volkswagon plant going in outside of Chattanooga.
-
All over the North East there are abandoned factories, mills and associated "quaint" towns. The Rolls Royce assembly plant on the Hodson is long gone, empty shoe and textile factories are crumbling , shipbuilding yards are rusting away, as the jobs are gone. Long gone. Where did they go? The southern states, then Mexico, tHE Pacific rim, Asia.....
The areas have adapted to different businesses, and we all have to, as the economies have changed and will not change back right away.
It will take another generation of technical advance to bring back the heavy industries we need as competitive entities. In the interim, we'll have to do something different. What that is, I don't know, if I did, I'd be a billionaire.
-
When I moved here 25 years ago, there was a huge Levi's plant, also Standard Knitting Mills (Fruit of the Loom) and Palm Beach which made Hart, Shafner, Marx men's suits among other brands, they made a women's brand that I can't remember, and also a couple of brands of shirts.
Those have all been gone for years, and who would ever have thought ALCOA would be having such huge layoffs?
But then....who would have ever though GM, Ford or any of the big tire companies would go ker-flop either. :(
-
I just read today that Caterpillar is moving one of their lines, (600 jobs possibly) to a new plant in Arkansas. Is Arkansas a right to work state?
They are also coming to Texas, a right to work state.
Caterpillar Coming to Seguin
Date: Thursday, December 18 @ 14:28:32 MST
Topic: Civil Rights in Texas--General
AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Speaker Tom Craddick today announced that Caterpillar Inc., a Fortune 50 company, will move one of its primary global assembly, test & paint facilities to Seguin, Texas, creating more than 1,400 jobs. Texas was in competition with South Carolina and Mexico for this facility. Full Press release. (http://governor.state.tx.us/news/press-release/11727/)
-
When I moved here 25 years ago, there was a huge Levi's plant, also Standard Knitting Mills (Fruit of the Loom) and Palm Beach which made Hart, Shafner, Marx men's suits among other brands, they made a women's brand that I can't remember, and also a couple of brands of shirts.
Those have all been gone for years, and who would ever have thought ALCOA would be having such huge layoffs?
But then....who would have ever though GM, Ford or any of the big tire companies would go ker-flop either. :(
Many of us that see the Unions for what they are.
I work for the largest employer in Eastern NC............the US goverment and in paticular a certain enity on one base...........the LARGEST SINGLE EMPLOYER IN EASTERN NC
You say that Sea Ray plant was just mothballed by Brunswick...............well so was Albermarle Boats a couple months ago. Just heard they sold it off to a person in Zebulon... :mental:
Hatteras Yachts also owned by Brunswick just layed off many a couple months ago and the latest rumor is the big layoffs will happen in the next week. Hell even the former retired CEO of Hatteras just came back to help (He was and is awesome).
As for the person who said why do you need so many boats............well their are many conditions that dictate many different boats.
-
When I moved here 25 years ago, there was a huge Levi's plant, also Standard Knitting Mills (Fruit of the Loom) and Palm Beach which made Hart, Shafner, Marx men's suits among other brands, they made a women's brand that I can't remember, and also a couple of brands of shirts.
Those have all been gone for years, and who would ever have thought ALCOA would be having such huge layoffs?
But then....who would have ever though GM, Ford or any of the big tire companies would go ker-flop either. :(
Alcoa was predictable. Don't forget they bought the crumbling Reynolds Metals (a former Richmond VA Fortune 500 outfit) as the aluminum biz contracted due to commodity manufacture advantages overseas.
-
Many of us that see the Unions for what they are.
I work for the largest employer in Eastern NC............the US goverment and in paticular a certain enity on one base...........the LARGEST SINGLE EMPLOYER IN EASTERN NC
You say that Sea Ray plant was just mothballed by Brunswick...............well so was Albermarle Boats a couple months ago. Just heard they sold it off to a person in Zebulon... :mental:
Hatteras Yachts also owned by Brunswick just layed off many a couple months ago and the latest rumor is the big layoffs will happen in the next week. Hell even the former retired CEO of Hatteras just came back to help (He was and is awesome).
As for the person who said why do you need so many boats............well their are many conditions that dictate many different boats.
SeaRay laid off some prior to Thanksgiving, and said they were combining some of the plants into the ones here. Which made the employees still here think they would be ok.
Then they shut down the plant for 6 weeks and furloughed everyone, except for management...(my friend's daughter - actually I've known her since she was in high school with my son...and is an engineer with them)..J was told to take 2 weeks off with pay. Then she ended up getting furloughed, it seemed, about every other week. The company was paying the employees a partial salary while they were off, but J did not get paid the whole time she was off.
The employees are to know on Friday who goes and who stays.
-
Many of us that see the Unions for what they are.
I work for the largest employer in Eastern NC............the US goverment and in paticular a certain enity on one base...........the LARGEST SINGLE EMPLOYER IN EASTERN NC
You say that Sea Ray plant was just mothballed by Brunswick...............well so was Albermarle Boats a couple months ago. Just heard they sold it off to a person in Zebulon... :mental:
Hatteras Yachts also owned by Brunswick just layed off many a couple months ago and the latest rumor is the big layoffs will happen in the next week. Hell even the former retired CEO of Hatteras just came back to help (He was and is awesome).
As for the person who said why do you need so many boats............well their are many conditions that dictate many different boats.
If you saw how many were all making the same kind of boat you would understand. It was a "jump on the bandwagon" mentality.