subscribesubscriber servicescontact usabout ussite mapBuy a Classified
Tue, Nov 24 2009 

Published: December 03, 2008 10:57 pm    print this story  

Clarke County plant to close

By Jennifer Jacob Brown



jjacob@themeridianstar.com



The rough economy and poor housing market have hit the nation hard. Though the economic blow in East Central Mississippi has so far been lighter than that of many other parts of the country, our area has certainly not been immune to the economic crises that is causing turmoil across the United States.

Earlier this year, Tower Automotive announced that it would lay off numerous employees in Lauderdale County because of the failing auto industry, and development projects like Phase II of the Meridian Crossroads shopping center, and the "old mall" project were put on hold or dropped completely because of a lackluster national retail market.

Now in Clarke County 58 people will lose their jobs when their Air Vent plant closes its doors at the end of the year. The company, which manufactures ventilation equipment for construction, cited the poor housing and building market as its reason for closing the plant, Clarke County Supervisor Paul Mosley said. Air Vent is a subsidiary of Gibraltar Industries, a manufacturer of building and processed metal products.

Currently, the Clarke County plant has eight salaried employees, 30 full time non-salaried employees, and 20 part time employees who will lose their jobs by the first of the year.

Mosley said the plant closing will not do much damage to the county's overall economy. "Anything hurts us and we hate to see anything close but it's not going to have an impact like Burlington had on us," he said.

Burlington Industries was a factory in Clarke County that closed in 2002, causing 900 people to lose their jobs.

Mosley said he is hopeful that another industry will come along and replace the jobs lost by Air Vent's closing sometime soon.

print this story  



autoconx
Premier Guide
Find a business

Walking Fingers
Maps, Menus, Store hours, Coupons, and more...
Premier Guide
Premium Jobs

UWA
Director of Field Experience and Outreach and Instructor of Education: Master’s degree in a teacher education field req...>MORE

Now Hiring:
RN, LPN,& LAB TECHS
Portamedic, the leader in the health information field is currently looking for an examiner, in
...>MORE

Drivers Needed
GREAT PAY, GREAT BENEFITS
Solos, teams & contractors wanted.
*$5,000 team sign-on bonus
*$1,000 contrac
...>MORE

See all ads

Premium Homes

For Sale
1983 3/2 doublewide on 2 ac, WL Sch. $47,000. 1993 3/2 & 2003 2/2 + 1.79 ac. Only $63,000.
601-727-5014, 513
...>MORE

For Sale by Owner
Newton Co. School Dist. 4 BR, 2 BA, L-D, FP, eat-in KIT, CH/A, ceiling fans, huge mud/
laundry room, dble carpor
...>MORE

See all ads

Deal of the Day

For Sale By Owner
Approx. 91 acres convenient to Okatibbee Lake and West Lauderdale School campuses. Approx. 1920 ft. along east side of ...>MORE

See all ads


 

Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.CNHI Classified Advertising NetworkCNHI News Service
Associated Press content © 2009. All rights reserved. AP content may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Our site is powered by Zope and our Internet Yellow Pages site is powered by PremierGuide.
Some parts of our site may require you to download the Flash Player Plugin.
View our Privacy Policy
Advertiser index