Worldcolor Closing Tennessee Plant; 789 Workers Set for Layoffs

Worldcolor is ceasing operations at its Tennessee manufacturing plant and all 789 employees will be laid off by the first quarter of 2011.

According to The Tennessean, the layoffs will be done in phases with an initial group of 22 workers losing their jobs by April 30. About 165 will be laid off by the end of June.

A corporate spokesman said the company’s operations will be moved to other plants in the United States. The company announced the plan in a letter to the Dyersburg/Dyer County Chamber of Commerce.

“We want to help folks being displaced get over the initial shock of all this and understand their options,” said Allen Hester, Worldcolor’s president and CEO.

“If there is a good side to all this is that it’s not happening at one time and people have time to look ahead to other employment opportunities.”

Worldcolor, which prints magazines and catalogs, is based in Montreal. It opened the Dyersburg facility in 1986.