FRANKLIN COUNTY • The wound left when Chrysler shuttered its plants in 2008 and 2009 hasn’t healed in nearby Franklin County, where residents for years relied on those paychecks.
The county has seen the sharpest rise in poverty in the metro region since the recession, according to recently released census figures. In 2006, a year before the recession officially began, 10.3 percent of residents lived below the poverty level. That figure hit 17 percent in 2010, the most recent statistics available.
When asked why the county was hit so hard, those who work with the poor unanimously cite the Chrysler closure in Fenton and its lingering effects on jobs.
“I think disproportionately we were hit harder than other areas, and that showed in our unemployment rate,” said Presiding County Commissioner John Griesheimer.
Many in the county haven’t found a way to replace good-paying jobs, and the county is about to be dealt another blow with ties to the auto industry.
Harman-Becker Automotive Systems plans to start shutting its plant in Washington, Mo., as soon as this month, leaving nearly 300 people without jobs, said Sandy Lucy, the city’s mayor.
Most of those jobs are in manufacturing. Many workers earn $40,000 to $60,000 a year assembling auto accessories such as car radios and navigation systems. The company supplied parts to the Chrysler plant.
Harman-Becker’s closure was announced more than a year ago but wasn’t supposed to begin until summer. The plant is now expected to be shuttered by spring.
The plant is an example of efforts to create county jobs. The state and city bent over backward to lure Harman-Becker to Washington in 2005, with incentives worth nearly $3 million.
The company has repaid the state almost $540,000 under a “clawback provision,” which allows the state to recover tax money from businesses that fail to meet economic commitments, according to the Missouri Department of Economic Development.
The company did not have to repay nearly $40,000 it received through the Missouri Quality Jobs program because it created and maintained jobs for three years. Harman-Becker did not respond to an email request for comment.
The pending closure worries Sandy Crider, executive director of Loving Hearts Outreach food pantry in Washington. She sees people coming to the pantry who lost jobs in the auto industry that paid $25 or $30 an hour with health benefits and retirement plans, and who have continued to struggle after those jobs disappeared.
“Now they’re working two part-time jobs for minimum wage and no health insurance,” Crider said. “They’re embarrassed because they can’t find jobs to bring them back to the point where they were in the past.”
A 58-year-old freelance Web developer standing in line recently at the Agape House food pantry in St. Clair said the loss of the plants has crippled the county and sent ripples beyond the auto industry. His own workload is down 40 percent from before the recession, said the man, who asked to be identified only by his first name, Bill, so his customers wouldn’t know his financial situation.
“I could see if you’re a bad person, you’re not going to hold a job,” he said. “But I see a lot of good, hardworking people who want a job and there’s nothing for them.”
Crider said more families are becoming homeless and must move in with other family members, also on fixed incomes.
“That’s what the homelessness looks like in Franklin County,” she said.
Ellen Dietrich, director of community relations of the Jefferson Franklin Community Action Corp., has seen the uptick in poverty, too.
Not long ago, a woman who used to donate came into the social service agency’s office. Instead of writing a check, she asked for help.
“People come in and give us résumés and say if we know of anyone hiring, please pass it along,” said Tammy Stowe, executive director of the Union Chamber of Commerce.
Franklin County government relies heavily on sales tax, but collections hit a low of $4.9 million in 2009. Since then, sales tax revenue has been on a slight upswing, said county Auditor Tammy Vemmer.
To help balance the budget the last couple of years, county employees have been required to clean their own offices to save on janitorial services. This year, unelected, full-time county employees will get a $700 boost in pay. They have not seen raises since 2008, Vemmer said.
Griesheimer, the presiding county commissioner, said the county had been able to avoid layoffs, unlike the private sector.
From January 2009 through March 2011, unemployment in Franklin County topped 10 percent for all but two months, and peaked at 13.4 percent in February 2010. The rate dipped to 8.8 percent in November, the most recent data available.
Christie Bean, of Gerald, has searched for a full-time job for more than five years. “I call the temp service every day,” she said.
Bean lost her assembly-line position when the Daisy BB bullet factory shut down in Salem, Mo. She’d like a permanent factory job but knows she can’t be picky.
“People who are getting jobs are holding onto them,” said Bean, 42.
Her husband sells scrap metal and fixes cars, but work has dried up. He has resorted to selling firewood door to door.
“He’s working hard and he’s not getting anywhere,” said Bean. He once had a good factory job, too, she said, but he lost it because of back problems.
Last month, Bean and her sister stopped at the Loving Hearts Outreach food pantry in Washington. Bean packed a basket of pasta, tuna, tomato soup, applesauce and red beans and rice into the back seat of her car and was grateful for it.
Other county residents are slowly digging their way out. Cody Sansom, 27, once made $20 an hour working construction jobs. When the demand for new houses dried up, so did work. He became homeless three years ago and moved to the Agape House shelter three months ago.
He recently landed a job as a cashier and pizza cook at a convenience store, where he earns minimum wage.
“It’s the lowest I’ve ever made,” said Sansom, who will start classes at East Central College in Union next month. “But it’s a job.”
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