Shaw Closing Two More Plants

There are another two plant closings on the horizon in Georgia. Officials with Shaw Industries say its facilities in Calhoun and Valdosta will close, leaving about 600 workers without jobs. The struggling economy is cited as the reason. The Dalton-based carpet manufacturer says the layoffs will begin in the next five to six weeks. Shaw is the world’s largest maker of carpets.

Carpet Plant in Milledgeville Closing

Shaw Industries has announced plans to shut down its carpet manufacturing operations in Milledgeville.

The company said in a statement Tuesday that 150 employees will lose their jobs.

Shaw said plant operations will cease in mid-February.

Al Scruggs, a company spokesman, blames the closing on a severe downturn in economic conditions, especially the housing industry.

He said affected workers will be offered retraining and unemployment benefits through the Georgia Department of Labor.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the economic slump.

(AP)

Plant to close, hundreds of jobs cut

More than 400 workers in Trenton, Georgia will lose their jobs in mid-November. Shaw Industries Group, a spun yarn facility, announced today the closure of its Plant 76. The company says changes in customer preference and downturn in the housing market led to overcapacity. Shaw is working to place its Trenton employees at some of their other locations.

(Associated Press)

Dow Falls, More Layoffs, Puppies Galore

The Dow Jones Index is dropping like a brick off a bridge right now. Barring a massive rally the next ten minutes, the index will have lost about six hundred points.

That's over a five thousand point decline in the past twelve months.

Meanwhile, in the very Northwestern corner of the state, Shaw is laying off over four hundred Dade County workers.

If feeling down about the economy, please click here.
(Don't you feel better, even just a little bit?)

Economic Slump Spurring Creative Carpet Strategies

Calhoun based Mohawk Industries reported a 23 percent decline in the past year. Similar slumping industry performance has forced over 2000 layoffs in the Northwest Georgia region.

Now officials in the flooring industry are thinking creatively to get through tough times. Part of that creativity means diversifying markets. Mohawk is ramping up commercial carpet production to help offset lack luster home flooring sales. Mohawk is also increasing domestic production of laminated floors. Officials hope this will stretch a weakening US dollar as well as cut down on fuel prices.

Meanwhile, fuel costs have spurred rival flooring firm Shaw Industries to begin producing bio-fuels. The Dalton based company is hoping a bio plant in Alabama will save three dollars a gallon on distribution costs. Still, these efforts aren’t expected to bring the industry out of the slump. Many in the industry expect tough times to last until the end of 2009.

Carpet company shuts AL plant

One of Georgia's large flooring companies is closing an Alabama carpet yarn plant. Dalton-based Shaw Industries says 400 jobs will go when it shutters the plant in Stevenson, Alabama. The facility has been the 2,000-resident town's largest employer. The U.S. textile and apparel industry has lost thousands of jobs since the mid-90s.

Fitzgerald plant closure to put 500+ out of work

The Georgia Department of Labor says all 556 workers of a carpet fiber plant in Fitzgerald will be affected when the plant closes in November. State Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond says in a statement that the closure of Shaw Industries will create a difficult situation for workers and the community. Last August, the company closed one of its plants in Tifton, causing over 200 people there to lose their jobs. Thurmond says the department will work with Shaw management to offer help to those losing their jobs in Fitzgerald.