Texarkana Alcoa plant idled

TEXARKANA, TX (KSLA) - Alcoa Inc. has announced its plant in Texarkana will be shut down indefinitely. Workers were told in a meeting early Tuesday morning. "Our mayor and council are scratching their heads to see what we can do," says Nash city administrator Elizabeth Lee. Lee says it's a big blow for Bowie County. Besides providing 365 jobs, the Alcoa-Texarkana plant is the area's biggest taxpayer, both to the City of Nash and to the Texarkana School District. "We also know it's going to be a trickling-down effect," says Lee, referring to the local businesses that chose to locate here because of the Alcoa plant. Industrial Power Systems is one of those businesses. Owner Karen Ensley says they helped build the plant 24 years ago. "We did a lot of work for them and it hurts bad." The plant is not closing, but it is halting production due to a lack of orders. The company says the recession has led to reduced demand the aluminum products made at the factory. Alcoa is the nation's largest aluminum producer. The idling process is set to begin July 5th. Workers were sent home Tuesday for the day, but were told to be back Wednesday. "They've been real open," says Mondo Berry, President of the local United Steelworkers Union. "Everybody has done a real good job and that's the that's the first thing the plant manager said, 'It's no one's fault.'" It's another ripple in a recession that's already forced the nation's largest aluminum producer to freeze salaries, stop hiring, and cut 13,500 jobs company-wide in January. That included about 60 at the Texarkana plant, which is actually located within the city of Nash. "The economy is just the whole deal," says Berry, "We got a lot of good people out there and we're gonna bounce back." Nash and Texarkana city leaders are hoping the economy will bounce back, too, and bring the Alcoa plant back online in the near future. In the meantime, a Rapid Response Team is already in place, poised to help idled employees find other work.