County tries to learn from Lewisburg
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In addition to forming a regional committee to address these issues, officials teamed up with their counterparts from Lewisburg, Tenn., the county seat of Marshall County, who found themselves in a similar situation when Carrier closed the International Comfort Products plant there in 2002 only four years after acquiring it in 1998.
Representatives from both communities gathered in Lewisburg Monday in a meeting set up by local Director of Economic Development Don Rigsby, who said the meeting was both informative and heartening.
“I thought it went great,” Rigsby said. “They told us what to expect with the closing, how they took care of their employees, and what impact it had on the county.”
Rigsby said the meeting also helped to ease the minds of those who attended.
“We all feel a lot better,” Rigsby said. “I felt that the impact was bad, but they handled it real well and it was not as bad as we thought it was as far as involving the community. The school system really wasn’t impacted at all. People didn’t move out like we thought they would.”
Marshall County officials also reported the general effect on the local economy wasn’t as detrimental as expected.
“They were expecting an impact on their retail sales and their sales tax revenues,” Rigsby said, “but it didn’t fluctuate very much at all.”
Lewisburg officials indicated the situation might not be as grim as it looked, it was still important to take advantage of all the programs available and to keep communications with the affected employees open.
“We felt we could help you avoid our mistakes,” said Lewisburg’s Director of Economic Development Larry McKnight in an interview Tuesday, “and take advantage of the things we did right.”
The gathering provided a rather extensive meeting of the minds with some 30 delegates on hand to exchange ideas and information. The Warren County contingent was made up of 15 local officials and business people, including Rigsby, County Executive Kenneth Rogers and Industrial Development Board Chairman Joe Hamby, along with two state officials, Sims Lance of Middle Tennessee Industrial Development Association and Paul LaGrange of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development.
Also attending was Tullahoma Mayor Steve Cope and Kim Finn of the Tullahoma Industrial Development Board. Marshall County brought 11 people to the table including McKnight, Marshall County Executive Terry Wallace, and Lewisburg Mayor Bob Phillips.
Rogers also made a trip to Nashville to meet with Sen. Bill Frist last Friday to request his help, particularly with the plight of older Carrier employees who may not be able to take advantage of the educational opportunities promised by the company.
“We’re just trying to do as much as we can,” Rogers said.