Factory closing slams Ga. town

TRENTON, Ga. -- When the yarn factory on Main Street announced this month that it was closing, it was a body blow to this close-knit community between two mountains near the Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama borders.

It's not merely that Shaw Industries Group Inc.'s Plant 76 is the economic lifeblood of Trenton and Dade County, its 440 good-paying jobs make it the county's largest private employer. The factory has been a constant here for some 40 years, changing hands from time to time but always providing economic certainty: It was where people went to work after high school, and the only place many ever worked.

Now the Wall Street meltdown is being felt literally on Main Street. The plant, which produces spun yarn for use in carpet, is closing in November in reaction to the housing slowdown and changing consumer tastes.

As the nation's economy worsens, workers are being laid off by thousands.

Georgia has been especially hard-hit. From August to September, this state shed 22,300 jobs, more than any other state except Michigan. Most of Georgia's job losses came in the carpet-producing region of north Georgia, says state Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond.

Plant closings in small towns have a greater impact than in urban settings and can alter the demographic fabric of a community, says Kenneth Johnson, senior demographer at the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire. "Normally, the first people to leave are the young adults because they're the least vested," he says. "For others, leaving is a more complicated thing."

Fear and tension are palpable in this city of 2,370 about 25 miles southwest of Chattanooga, Tenn. Workers line up daily at the library to create résumés and cover letters. They're deluging local businesses with job applications. Churches already are getting more requests for aid.

"It will be devastating," says Ann Brown, a 40-year resident and self-described busybody who serves on several civic boards. "With the holidays coming and property taxes due Dec. 20, it's going to be tough. People are concerned about how they're going to find a job."