KINGSPORT, Tenn. (AP) ‘ General Shale has temporarily halted production at its Kingsport brick plant. Mark Kinser, vice president of marketing and corporate development for the Johnson City-based company, says nearly 50 workers were temporarily laid off. Kinser says the economy and the slowdown of the construction industry were the cause of the shutdown and the company needed to get rid of excess inventory before starting production again. Kinser did not say when the workers would return to the plant.
