ROANOKE, Va. – Employees are going back to work after a downturn at Roanoke's FreightCar America.
FreightCar America stopped most of its operation due to lack of work about a year ago, but more than 200 people are now working again. The company placed a sign on U.S. 460 near the facility advertising jobs.
The city of Roanoke said those jobs aren't guaranteed more than a year, but they're better than nothing.
"Even if you're going to work for a few months, that's enough," Roanoke Mayor Sherman Lea said. "People want work and want to help the best they can, it helps out (the) economy and this move helps our communities."
FreightCar America produces rail cars for customers across the country. Lea said he has directed the city's staff to help in any way it can, in the hopes of hiring an additional 200 people for a total of more than 400 employees.