Recent layoffs reflect a national economic trend 02/21/01 By Michelle Mahfoufi and David Westerfield

The pending closure of the Shreveport Avaya plant comes on the heels of more than 400 layoffs announced since January.

More than 100 employees at Ironclad lost their jobs when the manufacturing plant closed in January. About 300 workers at Pennzoil-Quaker State refinery and the Isle of Capri casino have received pink slips. Next week, General Motors begins an unscheduled two-week shutdown affecting 2,000 hourly employees, which could be followed by permanent layoffs for some workers.

The manufacturing layoffs are part of a national trend, said Susan Beal, director of the LSUS Center for Business and Economic Research. Locally, the number of manufacturing jobs has been declining for more than a decade while service-sector jobs have been on the increase.

But economic development officials say the recent layoffs will be absorbed by a number of new jobs coming online by early next year -- most notably several suppliers to General Motors’ plant expansion.

Richard Bremer, Greater Shreveport Chamber of Commerce president, said about 800 jobs should be available among the suppliers by early 2002.

"You will lose customers and that’s what’s happened to us here," Shreveport Mayor Keith Hightower said of Avaya’s announcement. "But I am optimistic. A few years ago the city would have been devastated by this. But we have more diversity now and more opportunities. We just have to outpace the bad news."

While the loss of the plant will be another blow for southwest Shreveport, which is losing Sam’s Club and numerous retailers at South Park Mall, Hightower said he is hopeful a new tenant will be found to occupy that property. http://news.shreveporttimes.com/022101/101/18667.htm

-- Tess (webwoman@iamit.com), February 21, 2001