By By Sherry Digmon
Advance Staff Writer
Vanity Fair Manager Alvin Williams got on the public address system Friday morning and asked all operators to shut their machines off.
Then Williams made an announcement.
The closing in Jackson is the sixth in Alabama over the last five years. The Atmore plant is now Vanity Fair's only domestic sewing facility.
Williams said there are absolutely no plans to close the Atmore facility, which currently employs 550 people.
In fact, Williams expects to hire about 40 more employees by the end of July.
Despite his assurances about the plant's stability and the current hiring trend, rumors of the plant's closing circulate fast and furious.
Williams constantly fights the rumors, some of which come from inside the plant itself.
Recently, he heard that some businesses were already set up to buy the building.
Williams fights the rumors by addressing employees over the PA system and in meetings.
Atmore's plant is the oldest and the largest of the Vanity Fair plants.
Williams surmised that part of the reason Atmore has survived is due to its versatility.
The Jackson plant will close August 25, moving 543 sewing jobs mostly to Mexico and overseas.
Some displaced employees may come to Atmore, but the commute could present a problem, especially with the high fuel prices.