TAYLORSVILLE, N.C. — Help is on the way for the hundreds of workers who lost their jobs at a furniture plant in Alexander County.
Employees at Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams said they didn’t have any warning when the Taylorsville company suddenly shut down two weeks ago.
Channel 9′s Dave Faherty was at a job fair in Taylorsville Tuesday that could help them get back to work. There were as many as 45 employers at East Baptist Church looking to fill openings.
Many of the people there used to work at Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, like Robin Myers who worked there for years.
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“It does give us a little bit of hope,” she said. “Especially the community coming together trying to help us out who lost our jobs unexpectedly.”
Many of the workers told Faherty they were stunned late last month when Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams sent them an email about the closure.
The plant’s parking lot sat empty Tuesday empty and the gate was padlocked. Nearby, a sign says the company has “recently and unexpectedly learned that we are unable to to continue business operations.” Outside the closed plant, Faherty also spotted signs from several of the others furniture plants in the area letting people know about job openings in Alexander County and elsewhere.
The company CEO also sent an email to employees that Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams wasn’t able to “secure critical financing to continue business operations.”
The closure impacted more than 500 workers at two plants in Alexander County and a facility near Statesville.
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NCWorks is trying to help some of those workers, as well as others looking for work in the area, by hosting the job fair.
Faherty spoke with the pastor at East Baptist Church earlier who said his congregation, which has several furniture workers, wanted to help too.
“Furniture, it’s kind of been a staple and a foundation for this community for so long,” Pastor Jamie Steele said. “And to hear so many people lose their jobs just on a moment’s notice, it’s got to be heartbreaking.”
Alicia Shepherd says she was thankful for the opportunity to talk with other employers about openings. Like many former workers, she said she was caught off guard by what happened.
“I know we just promoted a bunch of people. We just trained a bunch of people. There were some people who relocated to be closer, so it was a surprise,” she said.
The job fair Tuesday ended at 4 p.m.
(PREVIOUS: All employees laid off, Taylorsville home furnishing company shuts down operations)
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