US town loses jobs to desi firm

WASHINGTON: A small town in America is bracing itself for the loss of jobs to India. No big news here, except this is a flight of manufacturing jobs. Residents of Danville (population 48,000), located in Southern Virginia, seem reconciled to losing up to 1,000 jobs after the Indian firm Gujarat Heavy Chemicals Ltd (GHCL) bought the storied local company Dan River recently.
Founded in 1883, Dan River employed almost 2,000 people until recently and is central to the region���s economy.
At one time it was the leading manufacturer of lightweight, yarn-dyed woven fabrics in the western hemisphere. Even today, it supplies major stores in the US products such as bed-in-a-bag and comforters, sheets, pillow cases and draperies.
But the company has been in terminal decline in the last few years and has closed several facilities in the city. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2004 and emerged from bankruptcy only in February this year.
According to reports from India, GHCL will purchase 90 per cent of Dan River���s stock, valued at $17.5 million. GHCL will also assume $80 million of Dan River���s debt.
Dan River���s acquisition is expected to give GHCL direct access to established American retailers such as as Wal-Mart , J C Penney and Bed, Bath & Beyond.
Dan River employees and local leaders are on tenterhooks about the fallout of the acquisition, going by accounts in the local media.
���I will be anxious to see what impact this will have on the community as a whole,������ Danville mayor John Hamlin told a local newspaper.
According to Calvin Barnhardt, Dan River���s Vice-President of human relations, the company employs 1,700 people, about 1,000 of whom work in the Danville facility, with an unknown number commuting to work elsewhere. Of those employees, 730 work in the manufacturing jobs that may be at greatest risk of moving overseas.
Some locals appeared stoic about the events, pointing out that more than 50 per cent of Dan River���s manufacturing was already being outsourced to India, Pakistan and China, and in any case, there wasn���t much manufacturing remaining in the US.
���It���s something we���ve been preparing for,������ city manager Jerry Gwaltney told the local Greenboro News-Record . ���We���ll be able to weather things reasonably well.������