Martinsville Bulletin, Inc.
P. O. Box 3711
204 Broad Street
Martinsville, Virginia 24115
276-638-8801
Toll Free: 800-234-6575
|
|
 |
|
|
| 530 to lose jobs by year's end |
Between 340 and 350 people attended a meeting Thursday for workers who will lose their jobs at Stanley Furniture this year. Above, Mary Rae Carter, deputy secretary for commerce and trade for rural economic development, addresses the group. (Bulletin photo by Mike Wray) |
| More Photos |
Friday, May 28, 2010
By AMANDA BUCK - Bulletin Staff Writer
Hundreds of Stanley Furniture employees who will lose their jobs by the end of the year had a chance to ask questions about what will happen next during a town hall meeting Thursday at Patrick Henry Community College.
Representatives of the Virginia Employment Commission, Workforce Investment Board, Social Security Administration, Patrick Henry Community College and more answered questions about a variety of topics, from unemployment and Trade Act benefits to disability claims and health insurance.
An estimated 340 to 350 people attended the meeting, which featured a team of local and state officials whose agencies help displaced workers. Stanley announced earlier this month that it will stop manufacturing furniture in Stanleytown by the end of the year, eliminating 530 jobs.
For some in the audience, the information was familiar. Tonya Harmon, who lives in Patrick County, started working at Stanley in November. Before that, she worked for American of Martinsville, where she was laid off in 2008.
After 10 years at American, Harmon, who said she dropped out of high school at 15 to get married, decided to study to earn her high school equivalency. She was close to passing when her family’s financial situation forced her to go back to work, this time at Stanley, she said.
As of Thursday — her last day at Stanley — Harmon was experiencing another layoff. But it wasn’t her second: it was her sixth, she said.
“I feel like I need to find another job set, another skill set,” the 40-year-old said.
Harmon plans to finish her high school equivalency this summer and take advantage of Trade Act benefits to prepare for a new career, possibly in the health care field.
“Maybe that will stay in America,” said Harmon, who also has worked for Bassett-Walker and Vaughn Furniture, among others. Her husband, David Harmon, worked at American for 26 years and now works for Stanley, where he expects to lose his job in October, Tonya Harmon said.
“I’m hoping (to find another job). But look at all these people I have to compete with,” she said, gesturing to the hundreds of people at the meeting. “Some probably went to college, and there are kids who are graduating this week. I’ve got to catch up and overachieve just to try to get a job.”
Anna Rice-Wright, the VEC’s Trade Act coordinator, urged people like Harmon to look at the job loss as a chance to learn skills that will qualify them to work in fields other than manufacturing.
“For every problem, there can be an opportunity,” Rice-Wright told the group. “You can start over — in a better field, even.”
Donna Martin, who was laid off in 2001, said she learned through experience what the Trade Act can offer. Martin, who did not say where she worked, said she went back to school at PHCC and graduated in 2003.
“I know you feel like a door’s been closed on you, but another door opens,” she said. “Take this opportunity to learn what you can do.”
Rice-Wright and other representatives urged the audience to seek more information through the Virginia Workforce Center, which houses several agencies that help displaced workers. It is across from Liberty Fair Mall in the old Circuit City building.
Although the meeting did not answer all of her questions, Angela Clements, a spray operator at Stanley, said she does plan to take advantage of some of the benefits that were discussed. After six years with Stanley, Clements hopes to become certified to open a day care.
Loretta Gravely of Martinsville has been with Stanley about 11 years. She is considering going back to school to study early childhood development or something in the medical field.
But as a worker older than 50, Gravely said she’s concerned about competing with young graduates for jobs.
“With unemployment at 22 percent (in Martinsville), where are we going to get a job?” she asked.
Asked a similar question during a Q-and-A session, Rice-Wright said the Trade Act pays relocation costs for workers who are offered qualifying jobs outside their commuting areas. The average cost to move a family of four is $15,000, she said.
“Trade pays that,” Rice-Wright said.
Barbara Redd, manager of the VEC in Martinsville, urged workers who do not have high school diplomas to begin working on their equivalencies before their jobs end at Stanley. She also said the VEC has resources to help people learn to write a résumé, ace a job interview and more.
Kim Adkins, executive director of the local Workforce Investment Board, said some workers who do not qualify for Trade Act assistance get help through the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). This area receives $3 million a year in WIA funds to help dislocated workers go back to school, receive training and more, Adkins said.
Funds are available to pay for books, transportation expenses, child care while adults are in school and more, she said.
Mary Rae Carter, deputy secretary of commerce and trade for rural economic development, said the team assembled to help the Stanley workers “is second to none.”
She said she and others at the meeting met with Stanley officials earlier Thursday, and that the company is concerned about the workers and what will be done for them.
“We will assist you in any way we can in the months ahead,” Carter pledged.
She was joined by Virginia Employment Commissioner John Broadway, VEC Regional Director Fred Scaggs, Rice-Wright, Adkins, Redd, Rhonda Hodges of PHCC, Allen Barrow of the Social Security Administration in Roanoke and Christy Landon of Stanley’s human resources department.
Also attending the meeting were state Sen. Roscoe Reynolds, Dels. Don Merricks and Charles Poindexter and representatives of U.S. Sens. John Warner and Jim Webb and U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello. |
| |
|
|
.jpg)
.jpg)
