Tenn. Officials To Help Displaced Whirlpool Workers

LA VERGNE, Tenn. (AP) — When the nearly 500 workers at the La Vergne Whirlpool factory lose their jobs at the end of the year, local officials hope there will be new jobs waiting for them.

 

''We hope to find a new company or a company that's already here that's in an expansion mode to fill that space and keep those workers in the area,'' said Janet Miller, the chief economic development officer of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce.

 

The job of seeking out new companies to bring to Middle Tennessee is constant, Miller said, and it includes those offering manufacturing jobs, even though many of those are moving overseas.

 

In the case of the Whirlpool plant, the built-in refrigerators it manufactures will now be made at an Arkansas plant, which plans to add about 275 jobs by December.

 

Another plant in Reynosa, Mexico, is also scheduled to close. About 750 people there will lose their jobs.

 

''The city hates seeing anyone lose their job,'' said Mark Moshea, the La Vergne city administrator. ''... It always has a ripple effect and really does affect us.''

 

But the plant is outside of city limits and does not pay property taxes to the city or even buy sewer and water service from the city, so the affect is only indirect, he said.

 

''Whirlpool has been here a long time,'' Miller said. ''We hate to see any long term employer leave.''

 

But she said Middle Tennessee is lucky to have a very diverse economic base.

 

''We're not weighted toward manufacturing so we can weather these losses in a more positive way,'' she said. ''We hope to turn this into an opportunity for somebody else.''

 

A representative from the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, which represents workers at the plant, did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.