Foreclosures are Fraying and Fading the Carpet Industry
Foreclosures are fraying and fading the carpet industry. Dalton is considered to be the carpet capital of USA. Inside the huge caverns of the factories jumbo machines churn out an endless supply of carpets – at least this was the scene a couple of years ago. But idle factories have led to the laying off of workers. A busy eatery is nearly empty while the police battle problems arising from methamphetamine.
Dalton nestles on the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. It is responsible for 75% of the floor coverings of USA. But since the onset of the foreclosure crisis the city is burying under a mountain of financial landslide.
The demand for flooring has drastically dropped causing a doubling of the unemployment rate in Dalton. Foreclosures are increasing and the population is shrinking. There are grave doubts if the economy of Dalton will ever pick up and regain its former levels even after the national scene improves.
Ralph Boe the president of Beaulieu of America (one of the big three carpet producing firms that employed 37,000 has discarded 1,100 jobs in the last two years) said “This has been a tough, tough time”.
Another carpet manufacturing company, Shaw Industries Group declared very recently that it was shutting down its plants in Calhoun (close to Dalton) and Valdosta (south Georgia). This will make 600 workers redundant. Mario Moreyra is one of the many who has recently become jobless. The young man bemoaned, “I’m not being picky and still I’m not finding anything.” All he can do is to scan job postings and knock on the doors of career centres.
The grim situation in Dalton is compelling the residents and its business community to come face to face with the hard reality that the fate of Dalton has been linked to only one industry – carpet production. Three years ago the local officials had started operations to try and diversify the economy. These efforts are now being stepped up with a sense of urgency with the collapse of the housing market. Incentives in the form of tax breaks and other like offers have been made to lure in the setting up of manufacturing of auto parts. The new age thinkers are building up dreams of a new Dalton that will be throbbing and vibrant but no longer dependent on one sole industry. Measures are being taken to set put plastic and chemical plants.
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