Briggs & Stratton Laying Off Another 210 Employees (Missouri)

I last posted about Briggs & Stratton back on January 27th when the company closed a Tennessee plant. This time it is Missouri's turn to feel the pain, as reported by a local television station:

The Briggs and Stratton Corporation announced layoffs Thursday at its Poplar Bluff plant.

The company says effective April 12, 2012 approximately 210 employees will lose their jobs.

The Poplar Bluff facility manufactures small engines for the worldwide outdoor power equipment industry.

And just like in that last announcement, the company doesn't mince words on the real state of the economy:

"The economic environment and levels of consumer spending on outdoor power equipment continues to be challenging particularly in Europe, " said Dave DeBaets-Vice President North American Operations. "We will adjust production schedules to better align with decreased market demand. Although the decisions are difficult, evaluation of our manufacturing footprint is an ongoing process as we consider productivity and efficiency gains along with the changes in the markets we serve."

The Poplar Bluff plant also saw layoffs in 2011 in which 202 employees were laid off in October.

At least one worker appears to "get it," even if her statement is a little garbled:

Sue Sinclair is a 13 year employee and is not among the laid off workers. She expressed concerns for her co-workers and the city of Poplar Bluff as a whole.

"I hope it's because of the economy," said Sue Sinclair. "If people aren't bringing in money they can't be buying lawn mowers, and leaf blowers. I can understand that for sure and hope it turns around quick because it could hurt really bad."

Sadly, Ms. Sinclair, but it's going to hurt very bad.


Bonus: "This trickle down theory...has left all these pockets empty"

Gates Plant Closing In Charleston (Missouri) Affects 127 Jobs

This layoff story that appeared on the website of a local Missouri television station was notable mostly for some of the interview bits that were included:

The Gates Corporation confirms the Gates Rubber Company in Charleston will close, leaving 127 people without a job.

The plant in Charleston makes hydraulic hoses used in tractors and airplanes.

Tom Reeve, the executive VP with Gates Corporation, says the company made the announcement to employees Thursday.

Reeve says the plant will ramp down production to prepare for the closing. No official time of closing has been given.

Reeve says employees will be offered a severance package. The company opened in 1981 in Charleston.

It was the next part of the article that really got me:

"I just hate to see it close," said Laymon Simmons.

"It's just sad," said Chris Hart.

"He said did you hear about Gates closing, I said what, he said gates is closing, I said oh surely not," said Simmons.

Simmons worked at Gates for more than 10 years, but retired almost 15 years ago.

"He said yeah they're closing and I said oh no, boy I know all of the people that work over there, good place to work, and the people are so nice over there," said Simmons.

"Very sad, because I'm a school teacher and a lot of my children's parents work at Gates," said Hart.

Hart says she's watched numerous companies close in the area.

"Our school population is decreasing, we've gone from a size 3A school to a 2A school, and I think that will continue as long as we lose jobs," said Hart.

"Things are so bad here in Charleston, boy there's just practically no work, and no income at all," said Simmons.

"It gives us a lack of hope and then people move away," said Hart.

"These folks won't be buying houses, won't be buying cars, you know all of a sudden they don't have expendable income," said Ed Dust, the Director of Economic Development in Sikeston.

"It's going to hurt this whole town, it's going to be bad for the people that has to depend on Gates for food, or anything like that, and I don't know how they're going to make it," said Simmons.

Yet hope still springs eternal, although maybe it is starting to fade a bit:

Despite tough times, the people in the Heartland seem to keep a positive outlook.

"I know we have a lot of families that are worried about what's going to happen, I understand that, but just keep the faith, just keep your head up, we will find opportunities," said Dust.

"Just to be patient, and don't move away, maybe something will come, you know I don't know," said Hart.

I've never been to your community, Mr. Hart, but I feel pretty confident in this assertion: nothing's going to come that will save your community from its eventual decline into utter destitution. That's reality in this era of permanent economic contraction.


Bonus: From right across the river from Missouri, here is the classic alternative country band Uncle Tupelo singing a Carter Family tune about the last Great Depression

Casa Gallardo To 200 Missouri Employees: GTFO, We're Shutting Down

I think it was around last year at this time, before I started blogging here at TDS, that the Perkins restaurant chain shut down a bunch of its locations so abruptly that the wait staff actually had to kick some of the customers out in the middle of their meals. Well, here comes a story from KSDK.com of another chain shutting down locations almost as abruptly:

More than 200 Casa Gallardo employees are in shock after going to work Thursday only to learn it was their last day. All four restaurants in our area closed abruptly.

More than 200 people left work stunned. Employees of Casa Gallardo restaurants were told by corporate officials the restaurants would be closing for good, just minutes before the shutdown.

"They told us to call last call for alcohol and to tell our customers we were shutting down forever," said former employee Jessica Nickel.

That's how Nickel found out she was losing her job as a bartender with Casa Gallardo.

Thursday evening corporate officials from parent company "Real Mex Restaurants" flew in from California to shutdown the locations. Two hundred employees and 16 managers are now out of work.

Nickel has been at the Bridgeton location for about a month, and is three months pregnant.

"It was hard. A lot of us were crying, so, it was definitely difficult," she said.

Corporate officials say the decision to close the restaurants came about one week ago. Workers weren't informed until around 5 p.m. Thursday, just minutes before closing early.

Stay classy, assholes. And maybe someday it will be you escorted out of your comfy corporate offices with no fucking warning. At least, I hope so.


Bonus: "That's the way that it goes...when you're down here with the rest of us"

St. Louis Food Pantry Demand Doubles In One Year

While the national news media narrative continues to be one of economic recovery, many local news stories appear every day that completely contradict the idea--far more stories, in fact, that I could ever hope to post here. Stlouistoday.com has one particularly telling such report:

Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry, which is wrestling with a spike in demand, will soon move into a new building that has more space.

The pantry, at 10950 Schuetz Road, recently bought a 21,000-square-foot building less than a mile away at 10601 Baur Boulevard and plans to move there by midyear. The nonprofit organization said the upgrade will cost $1 million.

"We were feeding 2,500 people a month last year, and now we are feeding over 5,000 people per month," said Fred Steinbach, board chairman of the Jewish Family and Children's Service, which runs the food pantry. "We didn't have room to run the facility efficiently."

The pantry serves the St. Louis region, but in recent years more clients are coming in from areas such as Ladue, Chesterfield and Creve Coeur. Other food pantries in the region have also seen spikes in demand from people in affluent suburbs.

"We have people picking up food at the pantry this year who donated last year," Steinbach said. "What we are hearing is people have mortgages that they can't unload and a house that they can't sell, and their families still need to eat."

Maybe some of those national news reporters stenographers who keep repeating that same old tired recovery line should venture out of their little bubbles sometime and interview some of these people down at ground level. Too bad they would never condescend to do so.

What's the Matter With Missouri?

Nothing at all, really, unless you count the fact that the Show Me State is set to retake the national lead for the number of Meth labs busted:

Missouri will likely reclaim the dubious distinction this year of being the methamphetamine capital of the United States, according to Missouri Highway Patrol Superintendent Col. Ron Replogle.

"We are going to exceed 2,000 (labs) this year," he said Thursday during a session of the Springfield DWI Task Force.

It's possible that number will rank Missouri first in meth labs, displacing current top state Kentucky, Replogle said.

By the end of the year Missouri's lab seizure total will hit 2,100, he said.

As a civil libertarian, I am a staunch advocate for the legalization of most drugs, especially since the drug war has proven to be an expensive boondoggle that has done little to curtail the actual use of narcotics. But I have to draw the line at Methamphetamine. I still wouldn't make criminals out of the unfortunate souls who get hooked on this godawful stuff, but I do agree that production of it should still be illegal.

But it is tough to be an absolutist about any of these things when you read stuff like this:

Replogle spoke to task force members just after a Springfield City Council committee reviewed a proposal to support efforts to make pseudoephedrine tablets available by prescription only in Missouri.

The drug is the main ingredient of methamphetamine.

Replogle said he was involved in fighting meth as illegal labs spread east from California after the federal government removed pseudoephedrine from scheduled drug status in 1976.

As states have adopted more restrictive rules on purchasing the drug over the counter, production has shifted from large-scale labs, he said.

Nowadays, meth cooks use what are known as one-bottle labs that can be used in houses, motel rooms or cars to quickly produce the drug, Replogle said.

Law enforcement officers face hazards when busting labs, which pose environmental and health threats, he said, an increasing number of children related to meth cooks also are threatened with health problems and dysfunctional families.

Replogle said Gov. Jay Nixon has given the Highway Patrol permission to support further restrictions on the sale of pseudoephedrine.

Replogle said he expects intense opposition from drug company lobbyists to restricting the availability of popular cold medicine.

Past drug company efforts have involved warning people their cold medicines will be taken away, he said.

"No, we're not," he said. "We're trying to restrict pseudoephedrine."

Yep, we're all about protecting public health, all right...just so long as it does not interfere with the corporate bottom line.

Congratulations 2011 Ag Day Essay Contest winners!

Missouri FFA member Nora Faris recently won the 2011 Ag Day Essay Contest. Read her essay below or on the Ag Day website.
~~~~~
Their faces peer out at me from the glossy cover of a magazine, the bold headline touting them as “America’s Most Valuable People”. Among their ranks are political pundits, ingenious inventors, humble humanitarians, and a host of other charismatic characters. Their varied accomplishments reflect a time-tested tradition of hard work and good ol’ American ingenuity, but their lofty title as our country’s “most valuable” citizens makes me wonder. Would Americans perish from “technological withdrawal” if Steve Jobs discontinued the iPad? No. Would a national crisis ensue if Lady GaGa retired from performing? I don’t think so. If Mark Zuckerberg terminated Facebook, would the world as we know it cease to exist? I think not.

Then it occurs to me: America’s “Most Valuable People” aren’t found on magazine covers. Rather, they are found in farm fields, feed stores, and livestock barns. They are American farmers, a group whose labors, although largely unrecognized, are vital to the lives of all U.S. citizens – or at least the ones that eat.

In this modern age of supermarkets and 24-hour fast food restaurants, it has become increasingly hard for the American public to fathom where their food comes from. Long gone are the days when a chicken dinner meant selecting a bird from the henhouse. Today’s consumer, faced with an endless array of choices, selects their poultry with little knowledge of its origin, unaware of the work that went into producing and dispatching the bird. They fail to realize the vital connection between farm and food, between production and consumption. Little do they realize that without our nation’s strong agricultural infrastructure of farmers, their grocery store shelves would be bare.

As America’s population continues to grow, a farmer’s job is to keep up with the escalating demand for food. They will have to play multiple roles in their quest to provide nutritious, affordable products for more than 300 million Americans. Farmers will become inventors, developing devices that will improve crop yields and abolish dated farming practices. They will become delegates for agriculture, lobbying for the advancement of farming in their legislatures. Most importantly, farmers will become naturalists, determining the best solutions for responsible soil, water, and resource management.

Although it’s unlikely that a soybean farmer from Kansas will ever steal Kim Kardashian’s VIP publicity, their true importance to their fellow citizens cannot be denied. American farmers’ dedication to maintaining an unrivaled level of food security makes them our nation’s “Most Valuable People”, even if they drive a Case instead of a Cadillac.