Carpet Giant Shaw Closing 440-Employee Trenton, GA Mill; Blames Slowing Economy

Dalton, GA (AHN) - Dalton, Georgia-based flooring product giant Shaw Industries will start phasing out production at its 440-employee Trenton spinning mill in November.

In making the announcement Thursday, company officials said blamed the slowing economy and also said that there has been a shift away from the type of yarn produced at the 40-year-old Trenton plant.

The news comes on top of U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics revealing that 9.4 million Americans were unemployed and that there were basically three jobless workers for every job opening.

Employees at the Trenton plant reportedly say they anticipate having a hard time finding jobs that pay as well as the manufacturing jobs they are losing.

Shaw Industries earlier this year closed a similar plant in Stevenson, Alabama, throwing 400 people out of work there in June.

The company is providing counseling, job retraining and job fairs for the Trenton workers, it also said it will try to place employees in jobs at other Shaw facilities, according to reports.

Shaw Industries Group, Inc., manufactures a variety of floorings and has suffered as housing sales have slowed demand for its products. It is a Berkshire Hathaway Company.