Appomattox, Boones Mill lose 200 jobs

Cross-posted at Blue Commonwealth

From WDBJ7's newscast tonight: More bad news for Southside's job market today, as North American Homes laid off about 40 people in Boones Mill. Appomattox lost about 160 jobs total when Thomasville Furniture cut production. 

This story was all too common even before the Feds' shocking epiphany that we are (gasp!) in a recession. In the newscast, Appomattox Town Councilman Bryan Baine touched on a simple economic lesson that Southside has learned and that Senate Republicans would do well to learn: in small towns, every job loss hurts everyone else. Ripple effects shut down shops and close up storefronts, leading to more job losses, and the cycle repeats. A simple stroll through Bassett or Uptown Martinsville provides a perfect example of this phenomenon. 

This is what I worry might happen in small towns across the country if auto-related businesses are allowed to fail along with the Big 3. I hope and pray that the folks in Boones Mill and Appomattox will find new jobs quickly, and that the new administration can help put things back on track.