DADvocate

Emerson Power Transmission in Maysville, KY recently announced impending layoffs.

Emerson's statement to the Ledger-Independent:

Power Transmission Solutions, a division of Emerson, today (June 25, 2010) informed employees at its Maysville, Ky., facility of plans for workforce reductions at the Maysville operations over the next two years. This reduction is driven by product moves to other Emerson locations in North America and the need to most efficiently operate for our customers. Based on current business volume, this announcement affects between 100 and 150 hourly employees and a proportionate number of manufacturing salaried employees, whose jobs will be reduced over the next two-to-three years.

The layoffs include an approximate 12% reduction in the Maysville facilities.

According to Baldridges's e-mailed press release, there were 60 Maysville layoffs announced as part of the 200 announced companywide; the layoffs were not temporary.

At the time, Baldridge said the number of employees at the Maysville EPT/Browning facilities totaled 500 after the reductions.

The manufacturing entity has been a Maysville employer since its beginnings as the Ohio Valley Pulley Company in the late 1800s, later becoming Browning Manufacturing, which was sold to Emerson Electric in the 1970s.

Emphasis added.

This may be peanuts to a large city but bodes poorly for a small town being that Emerson is probably the largest employer in the area.

Plus, Homelessness in the area and across Kentucky is on the rise. The numbers may seem small compared to New York, Chicago or such but the entire population of Kentucky (4.3 million) is approximately half that of New York (8.3 million).

Statewide, 6,623 homeless individuals were identified in 2010, compared to the 5,999 identified in 2009.

On top of that, the number of Kentuckians living in sub-standard housing has jumped by 31%.

One of the major findings for the 2010 count, according to the release from the Kentucky Housing Corporation, is that the number of precariously housed -- a term that includes those living doubled or tripled up with family or friends, living in substandard housing conditions or expecting eviction within seven days -- increase by 31 percent.

In 2010, the number of precariously housed was 9,833. That number does not include Jefferson or Fayette counties since those counties do not calculate the number of precariously housed.

Some of the housing I've seen would easily fit into the slums of a third world country. Jefferson (Louisville) and Fayette (Lexington) are the two largest (in population) counties in Kentucky. One wonders what the numbers would be if these two counties were included.

How's that hope and change working out for you?