EDITORIAL: Wellman announcement brings tough times home

The closing of Wellman Inc.’s Palmetto Plant in Darlington, scheduled for November, with the loss of nearly 550 jobs there threatens to deliver a major blow to this area’s economy.

The announcement of the pending closing, coming as Wall Street’s crisis sends the nation’s policy makers and presidential candidates in both parties scrambling for a solution, brings to our doorsteps the reality of difficult times that we’ve read and seen so much about.

Many area families whose livelihoods depend on the jobs at that plant — including folks here in Hartsville — now find themselves looking crisis right in the face. These are people we know — friends, neighbors, family members.

The news also comes with word that Darlington County’s unemployment rate for the month of August rose a full percentage point to 9.5 percent from 8.5 percent in July, while South Carolina’s jobless rate rose to 7.6 percent in August from 7.0 percent in July, its highest level in 15 years. Those figures do not reflect the pending job losses at Wellman.

The Wellman Palmetto Plant in Darlington has been a part of the Darlington County community since 1973. As one of this county’s largest employers, it has offered a source of stable employment for workers from throughout Darlington and Florence counties for 35 years. It is the second largest manufacturing employer in Darlington County, according to county economic development officials.

Last Friday, a task force made up of representatives of the Darlington County Economic Development Partnership (DCEDP), the S.C. Department of Commerce — Rapid Response and the S.C. Employment Security Commission met with representatives of Wellman Inc. to discuss the closing and possible future uses for the plant and efforts to assist workers in finding other jobs.

“First and foremost, our thoughts and concerns go out to the Wellman employees,” said Robert Long, the newly-hired executive director of the partnership.

Long and the DCEDP have their work cut out for them as they seek to mitigate the effects of the closing, and they seem to be moving quickly. He said he wants to begin marketing the Wellman plant and its equipment — preferably as a package — to other industrial prospects as soon as possible.

Of the approximately 550 jobs affected by the closing, 512 are Wellman plant employees. The rest are contract workers in areas such as security, canteen and custodial, Long said.

According to Long, the average age of workers at the Darlington Wellman facility is 49, and the average length of employment at the plant, 17.5 years. The average wage for production workers at the plant is $16.67 an hour, Long said.

Long has experience dealing with plant closings in his previous employment in Aiken and Edgefield counties, including one that saw the loss of about 1,800 jobs, he said.
Long said his office plans to work with Wellman and with the Florence County Economic Development Partnership, the Southeastern Institute for Manufacturing and Technology, Florence-Darlington Technical College and the Northeast Strategic Alliance in responding to the closing.

One of the central ideas behind the formation of the Darlington County Economic Development Partnership was to promote and encourage a cooperative approach to economic development between Darlington and Florence counties through the Darlington County Partnership and the Florence County Economic Development Partnership. A cooperative effort will allow the sharing of valuable resources such as the Southeastern Institute of Manufacturing and Technology at Florence-Darlington Technical College and all that this state-of-the-art institution has to offer.

After last week’s announcement, if there was ever a time when we needed such a cooperative approach, this is it.