Residents of Noel, Missouri, knew the small town would be severely impacted when Tyson Foods declared in August that it would be closing its 1,500-worker poultry plant. Soon after the news was released by the corporation, which employed over 25% of the county, some people began to leave.
The meat giant claimed that the closure of the factory late last month was a reflection of its “commitment to bold action & operational excellence.” It was one of three closures in October.
However, Jimi Lasiter didn’t move.
She was evaluating the effects of the exodus on her town and waiting for her $1,000 severance check after 11 years of employment at the company. She added that by the end of September, roughly six of her coworkers had already left their close-knit group of twenty or so; the others were moving office supplies and furniture instead of cuts of meat. She wasn’t in a rush, and she didn’t want to leave them with extra work.
“I’m going to have to drive 45 minutes if I’m going somewhere else, especially if I’m going to get anything that pays over ten dollars or $12 an hour,” Lasiter stated at the time.
She claimed to have not gotten her severance by Friday, though, which complicated her intentions to apply for unemployment benefits and allow some time to consider her choices. Regarding the pay of its former Noel employees, Tyson refrained from commenting right away.
Similar to Lasiter, a lot of people are considering their options in a weakening US labor market. Even while hiring is still increasing, residents of remote areas who don’t have access to many job possibilities have difficulties that local, state, and federal officials claim they are working to resolve.
According to data released on Friday, the economy created 150,000 jobs in October, compared to 297,000 in September. Even so, the unemployment rate increased slightly to 3.9%. In order to emphasize the more than $5 billion in infrastructure investments in small towns and agriculture that are intended to promote growth in locations like Noel, President Joe Biden set out on a tour of rural regions last week.
In addition to holding job fairs for laid-off workers, Tyson and Noel authorities announced that over 300 employees are moving from their closed factories to other locations.
While Tyson is expected to close six operations this year and next, resulting in the loss of almost 4,600 jobs, the company is also building two new facilities in Danville, Virginia, & Bowling Green, Kentucky, which will employ 850 people combined.
“My first concern was how I could continue working for the company.” stated 32-year-old Corina Chinchilla, who spent 13 years working at the Noel facility before rising to the position of production supervisor for the packing of chicken tenders and breasts.
She “applied right away” for a lateral shift to Tyson’s facility in Monett, Missouri, which was only a similar 35-minute commute from her house in Neosho but roughly 60 miles northeast of Noel. Located in the western Ozark Mountains, the three communities are part of an area where the average yearly income is $39,600 and 20 percent of jobs are in manufacturing.
“Those who stayed put have told me to let me know if anything comes up there,” Chinchilla remarked.
David Handy, a pallet jack worker at the Noel plant who discussed the shutdown with NBC News in August, was one of the sixteen percent of employees at the facility who accepted internal transfers, according to Tyson’s confirmation. A recent request for comment from Handy was not answered.
Some Tyson employees, like 27-year-old Ryan Coulter, choose not to relocate.
Coulter disregarded traveling to the closest operational Tyson facility after working at the North Little Rock, Arkansas, plant that shuttered in early October in positions that included evaluating meat stocks.
He would be traveling significantly farther even though the average cost of a gallon of gas in Arkansas is currently $3.03, which is about 22 cents less than it was a year ago.
He remarked, “I’d end up wasting half my check getting there.” That is troubling. I will not allow myself to be set up for failure.
Rather, Coulter claimed, he accepted a position at a Value Foods supermarket in the area. He refused to comment on the salary comparison.
Noel’s financial future is increasingly dubious as large corporations like Costco and Amazon have grown in the Little Rock metro area, drawing in young professionals and a variety of new occupations.
Mayor Terry Lance stated that he was collaborating with the Southwest Missouri economic development organization, the Harry S. Truman Coordinating Council, to discover strategies for Noel to transcend its traditional status as a town with a large number of single employers.
He claimed to have discussed taking over the plant with a pontoon boat maker in the weeks following its announcement of closure, but that business would only be able to employ 350 people when operating at full capacity. Since then, according to Lance, a Texas company that turns wastewater sludge into feedstock has signed a letter of intent to purchase the complex. However, he wanted to avoid a “nightmare” and was “not convinced they can do that without a lot of odors.”
Other proposals, according to Lance, included turning Noel into a tourism destination by utilizing nearby landmarks like the Bluff Dwellers Cave, which is located just outside of town, and the Elk River, which Noel refers to as the “canoeing capital of the Ozarks.”
Although he predicted “two years of really, really lean times,” he expressed confidence in the community’s ability to endure. He urged all of the company owners there to persevere, saying, “I really do think we’ll come out on the other side better.”
There may already be less of the town’s unique flavor left, which Lance finds endearing.
Regarding the vibrant immigrant communities that flocked to Noel over its decades as a chicken hub, he remarked, “Everyone has their own unique art, craft, food, and music, and that’s what tourists like.” However, as the Missouri Independent revealed this week, a large number of people who are in the country on refugee programs—from Somalia and other countries—have hurried to look for new employment because they are worried about their chances of finding work.
Fearing economic repercussions in the area, state and federal representatives have put pressure on Tyson to sell a few of the locations it is abandoning.
Both Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey and Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, have publicly expressed concern that antitrust laws may be broken if new operators aren’t found for the Noel facility and the one in Dexter, Missouri, which shuttered last month. Tyson CEO Donnie King promised Hawley in September that the company was ready to sell “to any interested party — including a competitor.”
Tyson earlier stated that it was “open to receiving all offers” and that it was “supporting impacted team members and growers.” However, the company chose not to comment on the status of its closed factories.