City needs to leap now

So the deal with the frog in the cauldron is that the poor fellow doesn’t notice the water getting warmer because the change is gradual rather than sudden. This does not explain why some in Waynesboro can feel the temperature rising but sit contentedly while the water bubbles.

Workers at Mohawk Industries learned Monday that the carpet-backing plant will shutter at year’s end. Once owned W.R. Grace Inc. of “A Civil Action” movie fame, the facility steadily had reduced its workforce, with Mohawk laying off almost 120 people, or about half of its employees since January. By the time the walls figuratively began caving in, Mohawk ranked only as the city’s sixth-largest employer, though that will do nothing to ease the sting for the 120 remaining souls who learned they’ll have to find new jobs after the December shutdown

The picture for Waynesboro is far larger than Mohawk. That facility along with the iconic Invista fibers plant, formerly owned by DuPont on the South River, formed much of the city’s manufacturing base for decades. Mohawk’s closing is the product of a national housing market that has yet to awaken from the nationwide collapse that kindled America’s deepest recession in more than 25 years. Although housing has shown tremors of life, the industry remains in a coma. It did not awaken in time to save Mohawk. Now the attention shifts to Invista. How long can that plant and the more than 500 jobs it provides this community survive?

And what of Waynesboro? Some city leaders roughly a decade ago began the push for retail development in the West End in anticipation of the day when the likes of Invista and Mohawk no longer could provide jobs and tax revenue for the city. That day is here in the case of Mohawk and looming in the case of Invista. This puts Waynesboro in a precarious position.

The West End is a salvation now, providing an element of economic diversity to guard against the impact of potentially devastating manufacturing losses. But now Waynesboro finds itself increasingly reliant on its retail district to provide jobs for the community and tax money for the city budget. That bodes ill on two fronts: Retail employment does not offer the career ladder jobs and incomes associated with manufacturing, health care or high tech firms. While the retail sector can be an important component of a community’s economy, it’s not desirable as a core foundation. That could become vividly evident if retailers endure another trying holiday sales season like last year’s.

It is long past time for city officials to get about the work of expanding Waynesboro’s economic base. There is promise in the Mill at South River project at the former Crompton Mills site. That could draw research and education development to this town, which in turn could ultimately save it.

But city officials should not expect this to happen without their providing vital impetus. The water is warm and turning hot. It’s time to leap.