Dresden Loses Tobacco Plant

Source from:  By TONYA SMITH-KING tsmith-king@jacksonsun.com 06/17/2004

About 90 jobs lost as company moves operations to Kentucky Nearly 100 people will lose their jobs before the end of October at what had been a longtime family-run chewing tobacco manufacturing plant here. The North Atlantic Trading Company acquired Stoker Inc. in November 2003. The company publicly announced Tuesday that it was consolidating all tobacco manufacturing operations into its Louisville, Ky., facility - meaning the loss of about 90 jobs at the Dresden plant. A company catalog mail order operation that employs 10 to 12 people will remain in downtown Dresden, an NATC official informed Dresden Mayor Danny Forrester on Monday. That brings the total jobs lost in Weakley County since 1995 to 2,100, Forrester said. Stoker employees were warned in November that the jobs relocation might happen. Officials broke the news to them Monday. Those leaving a shift Tuesday who chose to comment seemed optimistic they'd find other work and were grateful for a package the city had put together to try to save their jobs. ''I think a lot of us had our hopes up that it would stay around here,'' Dresden resident John Hagye said. ''All in all, most of us knew it was going to be a tough decision.'' Hagye has been at Stoker for three years since losing a job at a former Sharon children's clothing manufacturer that closed about 2000. He has a 1-year-old child and another on the way. ''The city really stuck out there for us,'' Hagye said. ''I think we'll all find new places to go, new beginnings. I don't think God puts us in situations we can't handle.'' Stoker Inc. was started in 1941 in Dresden, Chief Operating Officer Bobby Stoker said. It manufactures loose leaf chewing tobacco and roll-your-own cigarette smoking tobacco, Stoker added. The total number of Stoker employees, including those at the Fred Stoker and Sons Inc. catalog and fulfillment operation downtown, is 101, he said. About 20 people will have the option of relocating to Louisville, Stoker said. He declined to comment on NATC's decision to relocate jobs. Forrester worked with members of the state Economic Development Commission, the Nashville Chamber of Commerce, a joint county economic development board and the Weakley County Industrial Board to draw up a proposal they hoped would keep the jobs local, Forrester said. The package, presented to NATC last winter, offered to help the company find financing to build a brand new facility in Weakley County and help in relocating the Dresden and Louisville jobs to that facility, Forrester said. The proposal also would have brought NATC's corporate offices from New York to Nashville. But in the end, it would have cost about $20 million to expand and relocate in Dresden and only $8 million in Louisville, Forrester said. He expressed an appreciation to all who helped put together the package and disappointment to Stoker employees. ''Anytime you lose an employer, it's devastating,'' Forrester said. There will be ''quite an economic impact'' locally, he said, adding that the average pay at Stoker is $10 to $11 an hour. The county's unemployment rate was at 6 percent in April. The appropriate state agencies are working with employees to offer training and help them find other work, Weakley County Mayor Ron Gifford said. The county is preparing for industry for when the economy picks up through efforts such as improving infrastructure, Gifford said. Dresden officials are actively seeking industry, Forrester added. Those at local businesses hated to hear the news Tuesday of yet another plant closing. Essary's Pockets Shell service station in Dresden has had to cut its hot-food section at the family-run business because of job loss in recent years, cashier Eric Essary said. ''I just don't know what's going to happen here,'' cashier Peggy Cavender said, adding she knows of two or three people who've left Dresden over the job losses. She hopes the economy picks up and ''goes wide open, so I don't sit down at all,'' Cavender said of her work pace. Sadly, for now, county employees are accustomed to frequent job change. Stoker employee Richard Huffstatter, of Dresden, has worked at the plant since losing his job three years ago at Quebezor Co., a plant that printed paperback books. The company had employed 600 people, Gifford said. ''So, I'm getting used to it,'' Huffstatter said of changing jobs. NATC ''bought us. So, we haven't got any choice. I will look for another job.'' - Tonya Smith-King, (731) 824-3640 What to know North Atlantic Trading Company Inc. is the holding company for: National Tobacco Company, L.P., the third-largest manufacturer and marketer of loose leaf chewing tobacco products in the United States under the Beech-Nut, Trophy, Havana Blossom and Durango brand names. Stoker Inc., the manufacturer and marketer of loose leaf chewing tobacco and roll-your-own and make-your-own tobaccos under the Our Pride, Tennessee Chew, Fred's Choice, Number 2 and Old Hillside brand names. North Atlantic Operating Company Inc., the exclusive marketer and distributor of Zig-Zag premium cigarette papers for the United States and Canada, and manufacturer, as well as marketer and distributor of Zig-Zag roll-your-own and make-your-own smoking tobacco products in the United States. North Atlantic Cigarette Company Inc., the marketer and distributor of Zig-Zag Premium Cigarettes. The above is based on information from The Associated Press. Enditem