Bootheel barge firm to lay off 500 of 545 employees

CARUTHERSVILLE -- Trinity Barge, one of the largest employers in Pemiscot County in Southeast Missouri, plans to lay off about 500 of its 545 workers in February.

Workers at the barge fabrication plant in Caruthersville received notice of potential layoffs in mid-December. That's unless the plant, which is actively seeking new contracts, manages to bring in some new business, Trinity spokeswoman Nancy Farrar said.

The barge fabrication plant is part of Trinity Marine Products, a division of Dallas-based Trinity Industries, an industrial manufacturing company.

"This is about the only thing going in Pemiscot County," maintenance technician James Simpson told KFVS-TV in Cape Girardeau. "This is the last. When it closes, nobody knows what they're going to do, or where they're going to go."

Farrar did not say whether the plant might close if business worsens. Of the potential layoffs, she said, "Advance notification was given so employees can plan for the future." The company also is required by law to give notice of possible layoffs.

David Madison, executive director of the Pemiscot County Port Authority, said he believes demand for barge manufacturing has slowed. "The barge industry is cyclical. After a while, like anything else, there can be a glut."

The county's 9.2 percent unemployment rate is tied with Wayne County for third worst in the state. Only Linn County, in north central Missouri, at 11.1 percent, and Douglas County, in southwest Missouri, at 9.6 percent, have higher unemployment rates, according to the most recent figures from the state's Department of Economic Development. The statewide unemployment rate for Missouri is 4.5 percent.