| Updated: 12/09/2009 6:50 pm |
Published: 12/09/2009 12:02 pm |
What started as a temporary shutdown at Georgia Pacific in Fordyce is now permanent leaving 340 people without jobs. Today the city and those affected are wondering how the town will survive losing one of it's largest employers.
For 45 years now the Georgia Pacific plant has helped drive Fordyce's economy. Despite a few temporary shutdowns and some layoffs here and there the locals thought Georgia Pacific would always be around.
So when the company announced shutting down permanently leaving 340 people with out a job it came as a very unpleasant surprise. "You feel like you're walking down the sidewalk and everything is going to be all right, until someone hits you in the head with a sledge hammer," Fordyce mayor William Lyon said.
"It’s very sad, they have no jobs to go to in the morning. It's just a sad thing," Terri Childs said. Georgia Pacific makes plywood and with the slow construction industry company officials say they had no choice but to close down.
Mayor Lyons says this is devastating not just for the people who work at the plant. "It's trickling down, to the mechanics, welders, loggers it's amazing."
It’s a blow to the city as well. People can’t spend money they don’t have. And for some finding a new job will take them out of town and they will take their money with them. City officials are trying desperately to keep that from happening. There are other industries in town hiring.
While they won’t be able to replace all of the jobs right now they are not giving in. "We are cautiously optimistic Fordyce is going to survive," Lyon said.
Georgia-Pacific press release
FORDYCE, Ark. – Georgia-Pacific today announced it would permanently close its Fordyce plywood mill. The closure will affect about 340 employees that had previously been employed at the curtailed facility. However, roughly a third of that number will be needed to restart a plywood line at the Crossett plywood mill and the company is encouraging Fordyce employees to apply for those positions.
“Our employees have done a great job – this layoff is not a reflection on their efforts,” said Jeff Watts, Fordyce plant manager. “We appreciate their dedication and commitment and, in fact, hope that many will apply for open positions at Crossett.”
Georgia-Pacific said the closure is due in part to the construction industry’s poor performance, but also because neighboring mills at Crossett and Gurdon offer increased efficiencies. Both those operations are complexes that have more than one mill, with the opportunity to share capabilities such as transportation, human resources and other resources.
Fordyce was the industry’s first Southern pine plywood mill, built in 1964.
