MPR News — Every afternoon at 3:30 p.m., the doors of St. Cloud’s Electrolux plant open and workers stream out, carrying lunch boxes or coolers. Traffic on 33rd Avenue grinds to a halt, as employees head to their cars or homes nearby.
On Friday, the daily ritual at this factory — where over the past century, workers have assembled cars, battery chargers, refrigerators, dryers and more recently, freezers — will come to a close. Electrolux is shutting down production at the plant, and most of its roughly 750 workers will be laid off.
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Whatever the reasons, the Electrolux plant closing will be a blow to the local economy. King Banaian, dean of St. Cloud State University’s School of Public Affairs, studied the likely ripple effects and estimated the real job loss will be well beyond the 750 positions that will be eliminated at the plant and closer to 1,800 jobs, as grocery stores, restaurants and retail stores lose customers.
Banaian, who lives near Electrolux, said he would often drive by and see a mobile food truck parked in front, selling snacks to plant workers.
Read more or listen: https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/10/30/in-st-cloud-longtime-electrolux-plant-to-go-quiet
