MEMPHIS, Tenn. — On the heels of one company planning to close and another cutting jobs, the city of West Memphis said it’s still moving forward.
Thursday, West Memphis leaders are looking up, and they said job growth is actually improving. However, the month of May has been full of surprises. Two major companies made major job announcements, the kind that you don’t want to hear.
Family Dollar’s plant closing will leave 300 people without jobs.
Sequoria Grady is one of the Family Dollar workers who will lose her job in July after news of the West Memphis plant shutting down.
“[There’s] work everywhere you know what I am saying, but to get the pay that you was getting there, you know, you look around. You got fast food restaurants that’s hiring, you know what I am saying. But it’s still not the pay or won’t be able to live up to what you’re used to bring in,” Grady said. “You will have to work extra hard, twice as hard, trying to find like another second or third job.”
Plus, the new Carvana plant also saying it’s reducing its workforce by 10% in West Memphis as part of nationwide downsizing. They had around 450 employees when the West Memphis plant opened.
But the city said since Mayor Marco McClendon took office in the last two and a half years, some 2,000 jobs have come to West Memphis.
They sent us a list of the many companies that have added workers: from hotels, restaurants, trucking companies and even the city of West Memphis itself.
Southland Casino’s expansion and new hotel is a big boon for the area with 1,500 construction jobs and 400 permanent jobs. The city of West Memphis’ Communications Director, Nick Coulter, told us more about the project.
“The great thing about southland is they are even offering sign on bonuses, so we have a lot of hospitality jobs due to southland’s growth,” Coulter said.
The city has already reached out to the governor’s office about Family Dollar closing, looking for options.
“The mayor’s not one of those [who] is going to sit back and let this thing go away lightly. He’s going to try to bring in more jobs, obviously, his number one priority is those those families that they’re in need right now,” Coulter said.
The city said its economic development team is already looking at trying to replace the Family Dollar facility and bring in more jobs.