The 1960’s were a booming time for Searcy, Arkansas with the opening of Kohler manufacturing and what would become Maytag manufacturing.


However, in the middle of this decade, a number of economic factors led to both facilities closing their doors. What was the economic impact? What is being done to help Searcy and central Arkansas recover?

Small towns across the U.S. like Sarcy, Arkansas depend on a local manufacturer for jobs and a tax base. So we wanted to know, what happens when one or two manufacturers leave town?


“I was laid off and had to try to get out and get another job somewhere, and at my age it was pretty rough,” says Bill Shewman, a displaced Maytag worker. “Personally, it took me a longer time to get back to work because nobody wanted to hire me at my age.”

At the peak of their production, the Kohler and Maytag plants employed more than 700 people. So what happened to these one thriving industries?


Buck Layne, President Searcy Area Chamber of Commerce, says it was a necessary business decision.


“Whirlpool acquired it from a company called Maytag, and when they did so they basically bought their competition, and so they didn’t need another plant. They had multiple plants across the United States. In fact, Whirlpool had over 80,000 people employed throughout the United States. Kohler ended up moving product to Mexico,” said Dismang.


The country’s well being also affected the company’s movement.


“The economy was not doing well. Another issue was that the company had been on strike for almost a year, and so those two factors combined I think were the reason they closed the Kohler plant,” but the closings hurt more than just the 700 people who suddenly found themselves out of work. Other industries and other sectors of the economy felt the sting as well, according to Arkansas State Senator, Jonathan Dismang.


This lead to the unemployment rates to soar.


“Obviously that is a large number of folks that are employed and really it is the insularly consequences to losing those jobs. Whether it be your health clubs, your restaurants, and the other businesses that those folks were able to support that obviously when it has a bearing that just kind of ricochets through the local economy,” says Dismang.


So the loss of more than 700 manufacturing jobs has gotten the attention of many state lawmakers.

Arkansas State Senator Jonathan Dismang and State representative Mark Biviano say while the impact was great, steps are being taken to help Searcy and central Arkansas recover.


“Obviously both of those plants leaving Searcy was a big hit to our economic base. We’ve had a number of constituents express concern and it’s part of what’s going on in the U.S. right now with the downsizing of our manufacturing and moving it to countries that are paying lower wages, so we had to look at ways of reinventing ourselves and our country,” says Biviano. But the most things I can do to encourage those people that talk to me was education. Many of them took advantage of the Arkansas State Technical Center right here in Searcy to improve their skill sets in other areas and that certainly has helped make them more marketable in today’s economy.


Dismang agrees. Education is the key.


“For us, one of the big things happening right now is a discussion on a state-wide level about how do we make sure we have a trained workforce. We meet with the manufacturers. The common concern is to have our folks with expertise to make the new high tech jobs. So we are working with our two year colleges and even our four year colleges to make sure that we have programs in place to make sure that we have the bodies to fill the needed spots,” says Dismang.


Going back to school to further their education was clearly the best option for many who had been laid off.


“The ones that I personally knew out there, a lot of them went back to school to become nurses, some kind of technician in the medical field, a lot of them went into the medical field,” says Shewman.


And Searcy is working hard to market this community to potential employers. Factors like excellent schools and colleges, a modern transportation system with an airport, and immediate access to the interstate highway system, as well as state-of-the-art healthcare.


But the question remains, can Searcy fully recover from the loss of the Maytag and Kohler plants? One Searcy resident says…..yes.


Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe who hails from Searcy, says things are looking up for his hometown and the rest of the state.


“So there are a combination of factors to answer your question. It’s a long answer to a question, but there is an comic recession aspect to what has happened and there’s and outsourcing aspect to what has happened, but there is light at the end of the tunnel, and there are things that we can do such as what we have done with incentives, what the legislator has permitted me to do, I asked for it and they gave it, no other governor has had these tools, and they gave me these tools back in ’07, and it has worked,” says Beebe.


In 2007, the legislature voted to give the governor the power to create quick action closing fund that gives incentives to bring new business investment into the state.


This fund has helped more than 26 companies and brought more than 766 million dollars in new business investment. These investments have created more than 6,000 jobs in Arkansas.


“In fact, Schulze and Birch, in Searcy, was a direct recipient of that program. That’s how we got them to Searcy,” says Beebe.



And the people of Searcy have the community spirit that potential employers seek.


“It’s a town you want your kids to grow up in, a town you want your management to live in and that goes to the infrastructure. We have a college here for instance and two-year schools here to show we have the work force that is needed. So we do a great job of showing people what’s here,” says Dismang.



As the Governor, Beebe says, his focus for the state budget comes down to only two priorities.


“I can’t spend your tax dollars on better things in my opinion than on education and jobs, because if you get that right, then it is easier to solve health issues or criminal justice issues or social justice issues. So we have prioritized education and economic development because it is the cornerstone of what improves quality of life and allows you to address so many other issues,” says Beebe.


Since the closing of these two manufacturers, the Schulze and Birch Biscuit company of Chicago has begun operating in the former Maytag plant in Searcy and now employs 350 workers. In addition, the ElectroCraft company, which makes small electric motors recently hired 100 people. And after a year and a half, Bill Shewman was hired at Walmart where he is currently employed.