Kane
The plant where I first worked out of college, sent out WARN notices last week. Ninety-seven people will be affected by the mass layoff. This number does not include the number of people that have been laid off since earlier this year as the company prepared for the relocation of much of the equipment and processes for non-US sites. What will remain in Kane for the time being will be some critical automotive business that will be difficult to relocate quickly. Basically, in the automotive supply-chain, all process changes, whether it be new tooling, or a new machine with the old tooling, or the machines being moved across the room or the world, need to be verified by a formal sample and documentation submission process that can take several months, or sometimes more.
Back in May I posted this about how depressing it was for me to be spending time in Kane on an extended basis lately. It is interesting to note the strong sense of foreboding I felt with what was to be our upcoming move. Then I noted that the plant would be closing this fall; the WARN notice was merely a formality to announce the largest part of the layoff. Ninety-seven jobs. The local paper article includes a quote from a local official that they get excited when they are able to incent a new employer in town that will provide 2 or 3 jobs. Ninety-seven jobs--gone. I thought about blogging about how this could be avoided, but that would have been in vain. In my earlier post I had touched on it.
And to make matters appear worse in Kane, the main street is right now completely dark at night. The street lights had been removed as part of the the physical "revitalization" of the downtown, a project that is now in limbo, with no definite delivery date of the replacement streetlights. The Streetscape project is intended to make the downtown more attactive, possibly enticing more retail development on main street. The worst thing about Kane's largely vacant and under-utilized commercial district is that there isn't even a Wal-Mart close enough to blame.
So somehow I feel as though Kane is actually someone's Yoknapatawopha. The coincident events of a large employer closing, the very streets dark with gloom---too much potential metaphor not to feel a pawn in someone's sad imagination.
Back in May I posted this about how depressing it was for me to be spending time in Kane on an extended basis lately. It is interesting to note the strong sense of foreboding I felt with what was to be our upcoming move. Then I noted that the plant would be closing this fall; the WARN notice was merely a formality to announce the largest part of the layoff. Ninety-seven jobs. The local paper article includes a quote from a local official that they get excited when they are able to incent a new employer in town that will provide 2 or 3 jobs. Ninety-seven jobs--gone. I thought about blogging about how this could be avoided, but that would have been in vain. In my earlier post I had touched on it.
And to make matters appear worse in Kane, the main street is right now completely dark at night. The street lights had been removed as part of the the physical "revitalization" of the downtown, a project that is now in limbo, with no definite delivery date of the replacement streetlights. The Streetscape project is intended to make the downtown more attactive, possibly enticing more retail development on main street. The worst thing about Kane's largely vacant and under-utilized commercial district is that there isn't even a Wal-Mart close enough to blame.
So somehow I feel as though Kane is actually someone's Yoknapatawopha. The coincident events of a large employer closing, the very streets dark with gloom---too much potential metaphor not to feel a pawn in someone's sad imagination.
Comments
pd