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MCEDA Executive Director: No. 1 priority is finding jobs for Levi’s workers

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7 months ago

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MCEDA Executive Director: No. 1 priority is finding jobs for Levi’s workers

MADISON COUNTY, Miss. (WLBT) – Madison County leaders say plans are already in the works to help employees at the Levi’s Distribution Center find new jobs once the plant closes.

Last week, Levi Strauss & Co. announced it was planning to “wind down operations” at the Gluckstadt facility, citing “accelerating operational costs and infrastructure needs.”

The plant, which has been in the county since 1981, employs approximately 480 people.

“We have two main concerns at this point, as a county and as MCEDA. No. 1 is to transition those employees to new jobs, and we’ve received numerous, numerous calls from many, many employers. We’ve also received calls from some companies that are also looking at the building,” said Joey Deason, executive director of the Madison County Economic Development Authority.

Deason provided an update to the Board of Supervisors on Monday. He told members he is meeting with the Mississippi Development Authority and Mississippi Department of Employment Security this week.

“Our main goal is to put together a strategy, one of which is going to include a job fair for those employees, and the local community as well, so that anyone who is interested in finding new employment, they could come to this job fair to help them out,” he said.

Deason said he’s been hearing rumors for about 10 to 12 weeks that the plant would close but didn’t have that information confirmed until Levi’s corporate office reached out to him on Thursday.

“They didn’t provide any timeline as to when they were going to close. They said that as they could release more detailed information they would,” he said.

Deason told WLBT last week that the U.S. Labor Law requires Levi’s to issue a “Warn Notice” to the Mississippi Department of Employment Security 60 days before the plant closes.

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