Wheland ends after 136 years

By Bob Gary Jr. Staff Writer

Just as Wheland Automotive Industries is laying off its last few hundred workers, a survey released Monday projects increased hiring in Chattanooga and nationwide this spring.

Monday was the last day of production at Wheland, the 136-year-old foundry that went bankrupt in November. Wayne Tamme, the company's vice president for human resources, said the company laid off more than 130 workers this weekend.

Mr. Tamme said another 315 workers will be let go at the end of the week, leaving about 50 to handle cleanup and mothballing for another couple of weeks. Wheland had 1,300 hourly production workers as recently as October, he said.

Lorie Street Mallchok, executive vice president of Wheland's parent company, North American Royalties, said a staff of 10 to 20 administrative personnel would be all that's left of the foundry by April. She said they will continue to try to sell the company's Broad Street and Middle Street plants in Chattanooga and its Warrenton, Ga., plant as ongoing operations "so these people can have a chance to come back to work.''

Mrs. Mallchok, whose family has owned Wheland for 57 years, called this "a very sad time."

Even as Wheland breathes its last, though, Manpower Inc.'s quarterly survey shows employers see a rebirth ahead for the economy.

Of the 16,000 American businesses Manpower surveyed, 21 percent said they expect to add jobs in April through June. Just 10 percent said they see staff cuts ahead in the second quarter.

Though slight, the increase was the survey's first in more than a year. Chattanooga businesses were even more optimistic, with half forecasting staff additions and just 3 percent projecting decreases.

"Companies are going to be hesitating for some time yet, but the trend could turn into something more positive in the next two to three quarters," said Jeffrey Joerres, chairman and CEO of Glendale, Wis.-based Manpower, the nation's largest staffing company.

But Matt Murray, associate director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, said things have bottomed out but haven't started back up just yet.

"The international sector won't be a source of economic growth," he said. "Government spending won't be a source of economic growth, and consumers have been doing all they can do.

"The investment sector needs to grow before the overall economy can grow, and until I see that start to move, I won't be completely convinced that the economy's moving forward. I think it's fine to be talking about a potential turnaround, but it's not on us yet," Dr. Murray said.

Even so, several area businesses have professed optimism for the second quarter and beyond. That list includes Covista Communications, Olan Mills, UnumProvident and Roper, which plan to add nearly 2,000 new jobs among them this year and next.

Mark Campbell, who owns Manpower franchises in Chattanooga; Cleveland, Tenn.; Dalton, Ga.; and Scottsboro, Ala., said he's seen firsthand evidence of a turnaround in progress.

"My offices deal primarily in light industrial business," he said. "I'm not an economist. I can't say the recession's over. But in the last three weeks, I've seen a significant increase in the number of orders. I'm hoping that's a trend."