That was too easy... O:)
Posted on 01/14/2007 10:06:41 PM PST by FLOutdoorsman
Ten days after Hurricane Katrina tore through town, the Oreck Corporation reopened the storm-damaged plant where it assembled its widely advertised vacuum cleaners. It hauled in generators to make electricity, imported trailers to house its workers and was hailed as a local hero for putting people back to work so fast.
But now, 16 months later, Oreck — which had employed almost 500 people at the factory — is throwing in the towel and moving its manufacturing to Tennessee. The company says it cannot get enough insurance to cover its plant here, and cannot hire enough skilled workers to replace those who never returned after the storm, mostly because they had nowhere to live.
“The decision to move this plant was a very difficult one, a very painful one,” said Thomas A. Oreck, the company president. Late last year, Mr. Oreck said, “we came to realize that conditions on the Gulf Coast had changed in ways that made doing business here very difficult.”
The move has caused an uproar in Mississippi, where the company has been criticized in the local newspaper and by government officials, including Senator Trent Lott. State officials say Oreck is the only major business they know of that has decided to leave the state in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. But they concede that the problems Mr. Oreck described are hurting other businesses.
Finding workers is a challenge now along the Mississippi coast. In Hancock County, to the west of here, employers have booked all of the recruitment booths at a job fair scheduled for Jan. 25, seeking workers for jobs in casinos, factories or power companies. In Biloxi, to the east, the Gulf Coast Medical Center says it is struggling to find workers, and so are insurance companies, restaurants and trucking companies.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
That was too easy... O:)
Eh....Mississippi can't complain. They stole the factory from Louisiana before the storm. Stuff goes around.
Well, Oreck is a business, not a charity. If business conditions improve, hopefully they'd move back into the area.
They stole an entire factory?? Wow!
A business isn't a charity. It doesn't own anyone anything.
Did they have Chuck Norris do it for them?
It's not just there that folks are having trouble finding workers. Out here in the oil patch, convenience stores, restaurants and even Wal-Mart are having problems and store hours are cut back. Why? Good paying jobs are plentiful (a trucking company is advertising a $12,000 bonus for drivers) and two-job families are not necessary, especially those paying close to minimum wage, as the wife does not need to work and will stay home with the kids.
I need to buy a new vacuum cleaner, something in the 100.00 range. Does anybody have any suggestions?
I bought a Eureka, the bagless type and it broke like six months after I purchased it.
“The decision to move this plant was a very difficult one, a very painful one,” said Thomas A. Oreck, the company president. Late last year, Mr. Oreck said, “we came to realize that conditions on the Gulf Coast had changed in ways that made doing business here very difficult.”
Well of course. Katrina was a devastating storm, it may have been a once in 100 year occurance but the wounds that witch of a storm produced will take a long time to heal.
Of course Trenty Lott will revert to his underlying democrat party tendencies and blame the insurance companies and other evil big business and George Bush.
Can't really blame them. It's gonna take a long time for things to be even close to normal. I remember how long it took after Camille, and I was only 3 going on 4 when that Monster struck.
Have lived on the Gulf Coast my entire life. Hurricanes are something (or the possibility of) that we live with every year. Some years we're Blessed , other years we get slammed. A fact of life.
Oreck at least came back, helped out its people and tried. Alot haven't even made the attempt.
Does that make them weak? Not really. The Gulf can be a Lady or she can be a B**ch. Some can live with that fact, others can't.
I wish them all the very best.
Shut up, Trent. Find something else to whine about.
"Shut up, Trent. Find something else to whine about."
No kidding. I guess he'd be happy if they moved it to Mexico or China and started sellling them at a discount at Wal Mart.
The reality now sets in for business.
I don't think they will find Tenn all that much better....but who knows?
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Maybe if they had a Web presence in the 21st Century, it would be less of a struggle.
Maybe also, if they recognized reciprocity of licensing, instead of require current MS licenses to apply for licensed positions...
Just a couple of free, helpful hints to them.
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