Audio clip
Saxby Chambliss
DALTON, Ga. — As the city’s carpet industry suffers amid the nation-wide housing slump, U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., toured a Shaw Industries facility here and fielded questions on the economy.
“The problem is with the slowdown in the housing construction industry,” Sen. Chambliss said, and added the federal government can create policies to stimulate the housing industry.
Sen. Chambliss said the government could possibly help remove the inventory of foreclosed houses that is burdening banks. “Then, you’ll have the demand for new houses to be built, and new carpet to be installed,” he said.
After the tour Thursday of Shaw’s Waste to Energy facility, Sen. Chambliss noted the importance of the U.S. carpet industry to the area around Dalton.
“Like 80 percent of the carpet in the United States ... is manufactured ... right here,” he said, and acknowledged the housing slump has hit the carpet industry hard.
Metro Dalton’s 5.6 percent jobless rate in January was the highest since February 1997. And Georgia State University’s Economic Forecasting Center predicts that Dalton will be Georgia’s only metro area to suffer a net job decline in 2008.
But Sen. Chambliss predicted that Dalton will not go the way of many Midwest cities, which are suffering rampant unemployment as manufacturers go overseas for cheap labor.
“It’s not a labor issue that’s the problem,” he said.
Sen. Chambliss said he hopes that Congress’ $168 billion stimulus package will revive the nation’s overall economy. Lower-income residents will begin getting rebates in May.
“If they spend the money, there will be trickle-down effects,” the senator said.
Meanwhile, Shaw Industries saves $1 million a year on energy by converting carpet scraps and sawdust into steam at it’s Waste to Energy Plant, said Rick Ramirez, vice president of sustainability and environmental affairs.
“With the rising price of energy, that’s a major source of savings,” Mr. Ramirez said.
During his speech, Sen. Chambliss said the savings for Shaw would “ultimately benefit employees.”
Still, some carpet workers across the region will continue to lose their jobs, experts say. Georgia State economist Rajeev Dhawan forecast a 0.3 percent decline in employment in 2008, and a 0.2 percent growth in employment in 2009.
Truck driver Jimmy Adams, 42, hauls carpet for Mohawk Industries, and said recently business for him is slow.
However, he added, “Right now, you’d be crazy to quit your job.”
