Pulaski County prepares for Volvo layoffs impact

By Rosa Duarte

Published: April 18, 2008

Next month, more than a thousand workers will be out of a job and the surrounding community is trying to get ready.
According to a Volvo spokesman, 1,100 workers will be laid off from the Dublin plant starting the week of May 12th.
Pulaski County Administrator Peter Hubert says it’s an issue they’re used to dealing with, “Back in the 1990’s when AT&T we set up a response team that’s since has been institutionalized and is operated by the Virginia Employment Commission and they’ll be assisting folks at Volvo as their looking for alternatives or evaluating their alternatives.”
Hubert says the Virginia Employment Commission will provide assistance through training, job searches and there’s also long term projects like the new commerce park next to the New River Valley airport ready for other big industries to move in. There’s also a business incubator in Radford that helps small business owners get started.
Hubert says there’s been lots of interest in the new commerce park and that county supervisors also plan to address an expansion of the area’s enterprise zone at their next meeting.