It’s a week since officials of a manufacturer in Webster City announced that 700 jobs will move to a new Electrolux plant to be built in Juarez, Mexico. Last night the city council heard from Webster City Area Development Director Gary Sandholm. He says fortunately, there’s a lot of time in which to come up with a plan, so the community can avoid mistakes.
Sandholm says there’s an upside to the situation for the Webster City area. In the past, efforts to recruit new industry have been hampered by the lack of a lot of workers available in the area. With Electrolux leaving, they can now say there are a lot of skilled workers available for any new business coming to town.
Sandholm says it gives recruiters something they can truthfully say: there’s available labor that will be on the market in Webster City in the foreseeable future. The Mexico plant is expected to be on-line late next year or early in 2008, and that’s when the jobs would go.
