$2.4 million to help those laid off from Noranda, Thorngate, Rapco, others

Workers who lost their jobs at Noranda Aluminum Inc., Thorngate Ltd. and Rapco/Major Custom Cable Inc. are now eligible for extra help to find training and maintain unemployment benefits, the U.S. Department of Labor announced Wednesday.

The department released $2.4 million for Missouri to aid 815 workers affected by mass layoffs or plant closings at those three companies and at eight others in Southeast Missouri, the Ozarks and south-central Missouri areas.

Noranda Aluminum laid off more than 200 workers in a series of job cuts announced in December. Thorngate cut 250 workers when it announced in September that it would close its Independence Street suit factory. And Rapco/Major Custom Cable announced in November that it would cut 87 jobs at its Advance, Mo., facility as it consolidated operation.

All of the employees who lost their jobs will be eligible for a full array of services through the Missouri Division of Workforce Development. The money is from a pool of National Emergency Grants that the secretary of labor can award to states seeking to meet guidelines for helping workers.

"An occupationally diverse group of workers in these regions experienced dislocations during 2008 and into 2009," Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis said in a news release accompanying the grant announcement. "This grant will provide access to the employment-related services necessary to transition into occupations in the high-growth industries identified through Missouri's Hot Jobs Initiative."

Of the $2.4 million, $1.87 million will be released initially. Additional funding will become available as the state demonstrates a continuing need for help, the Department of Labor said in the news release.

Unemployment in Missouri reached 8.3 percent in February, up from 5.8 percent a year ago. In Southeast Missouri, unemployment stood at 6.5 percent in Cape Girardeau County, one of the lowest in the region. The highest unemployment in the region was in Stoddard County, with 10.7 percent, and Dunklin County, where unemployment was 12.2 percent.

rkeller@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

New Madrid, MO

Advance, MO

Thorngate Ltd., workers who lost their jobs will be eligible for extra help to find training and maintain unemployment benefits. (Kit Doyle)

Cape Girardeau, MO