It's not merely that Shaw Industries Group Inc.'s Plant 76 is the economic lifeblood of Trenton and Dade County, its 440 good-paying jobs make it the county's largest private employer. The factory has been a constant here for some 40 years, changing hands from time to time but always providing economic certainty: It was where people went to work after high school, and the only place many ever worked.
In towns like Trenton there are often only one main plant. Sometimes they have survived through the years by leaning the operations enough to remain competitive. The recession was too much to withstand.
Demographer Johnson says small towns that lose their main employer often fade
into obscurity, but he believes Trenton will endure: "Their saving grace is
their proximity to the Chattanooga metro area. A lot of these people are
certainly going to find jobs there."
Hope.
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