Henredon to close plant, cut 400 jobs

Saturday, Sept. 22, 2007

By Hannah Mitchell and Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writers

The Henredon furniture plant in Morganton will close in December, eliminating more than 400 jobs at the company.

Of the 521 people who work at the plant, the company will place about 100 people in other jobs, according to Gov. Mike Easley's office.

HDM Furniture Industries President Tom Tilley told The Associated Press that the majority of the furniture made at the plant will be outsourced. He said some employees will be transferred to a smaller plant that the company will keep in the Morganton area.

The company did not give any other details of the closing, and officials did not return several calls seeking comment.

Henredon is part of HDM Furniture Industries, a subsidiary of St. Louis-based Furniture Brands International, which has been shifting its production to Asia for the past five years.

The closing adds to the decline of manufacturing in the counties around Morganton and Hickory. In recent years, the region has lost thousands of jobs in the furniture and textile industries, which for decades were the bedrock of the economy.

"It's very disturbing," said commissioner Ruth Ann Suttle. "People are going to be out of work, and the county is going to have to work that much harder to bring business here. Furniture and textile is a thing of the past (in Burke County), and we're going to have to come up with new ideas and incentives."

The unemployment rate in the four-county Hickory region was 6.6 percent in July, the latest month for which regional statistics are available. The state unemployment rate in August was 4.8 percent.

The Hickory region's rate, the second-highest in the state, is due largely to the loss of manufacturing jobs, the N.C. Employment Security Commission said.

- The associated contributed

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