Greens shoots? Not around here

Discussion in 'Economics' started by spades434, Aug 16, 2009.

  1. And the hits keep on coming. Brunswick County, VA is mostly rural, with only a handful of decent places to work. The brickyard, landfill, and prisons are at the top. This excludes the school/county govt positions.
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    http://www.vancnews.com/articles/2009/08/11/brunswick/news/news02.txt

    Layoffs planned at Brick plant

    Tuesday, August 11, 2009 11:03 AM EDT
    By Sylvia Allen



    Editor

    LAWRENCEVILLE - Lawrenceville Brick, Inc. will be temporarily shutting down its remaining production operations around the end of October. Between 25 and 30 employees who work in plant production will be laid off at this time.

    C.E.O. and President Benjamin B. Powell said the shutdown is part of a routine maintenance cycle that is typically required every three or four years for facilities like the plant at 16144 Governor Harrison Parkway. He said the plant has been operating continuously since it was originally built six years ago.

    When asked how long the layoff would last, Powell said he hoped to begin production again by early spring.


    "We have been fighting this for a long time. There have been rumors on the street that we are closing but that is not true. This is a temporary shutdown. The timing of the restart of the plant will be dependent on product demand and shipments from the existing inventory during the time of the shutdown," Powell said.

    Powell said three years ago the plant employed approximately 150 people including retail at the Tidewater facility. Now there are approximately 80 people employed. The lay off will not affect sales, customer service, administration, or shipment. He said the plant has some good orders on the books and several potential orders. How the economy improves will be a factor on when the plant reopens.

    "We are optimistic. This is a good time to do some heavy maintenance and adjust inventory. Given the protracted economic downturn on the national brick industry, the plant will remain closed a bit longer than normal to help with the reduction of inventory during the winter months," Powell said.


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    They shut down the old building last fall, laid off a bunch of folks. Said at the time that things would prob be better in early 2010. They got so much brick on the yard that it's unreal. And people talk about a housing recovery already, total BS. So the brickyard is shut down, far fewer trucks pulling into the landfill, and hearing reports of prisons nationwide cutting back. I don't know about the rest of the state....but I see NO greens shoots around here.

    Oh, one more thing regarding green shoots- Much of it appears to be just fescue grass, as the state doesn't have the funds to pay for grass-cutting along the highways this year. And they closed a bunch of rest areas on the interstates.
     
  2. Pretty soon US will be outsourcing brick making to Pakistan (creates too much pollution here) & prisons will be outsourced to China (they're more efficient there since they have shorter lifespan).

    Hail Bernanke & Geithner!
     
  3. .........that, or marijuana! Soon to be a major source of tax revenue near you. :D