Tenneco job losses in Paragould to be fewer than initially reported

The number of full-time Tenneco employees who will lose their jobs when its plant in Paragould shutters its operations later this spring will be lower than initially reported. The company has filed a notice with the city of Paragould stating that 687 employees will be laid-off.

The Paragould Chamber of Commerce listed the company as having 1,100 employees, but there are several reasons why that number could be off when compared to how many will lose their jobs, Chamber Director of Economic Development and CEO Allison Hestand told Talk Business & Politics.

The chamber tabulates that number once every three years and the last time it was tabulated was in 2022, she said. The number of laid-off employees doesn’t include temporary employees, and the company still plans to keep its distribution center and warehouse open in the city, meaning workers there won’t lose their jobs, she added.

Officials at Tenneco have not returned repeated phone calls from TB&P to clarify the number of impacted employees since it was announced that the plant would close on Jan. 14.

The first phase of layoffs is scheduled to occur around March 31, with the second phase around April 15 and the third phase of layoffs around April 30. Those days are subject to change within 14 days following the above dates.

Tenneco is based in Chicago and makes shock absorbers, struts, and other auto parts. It has been in Paragould for 50 years.

There’s no good time to lose a major employer, but officials in Greene County hope to blunt the blow by offering a slew of jobs at the county’s job fair slated for March, Hestand said. As many as 500 jobs could be up for grabs at the fair.

“A lot of our industries are looking to add workers … we feel pretty confident,” she said.

Local officials are working with the state’s Rapid Response Team. It helps businesses deal with job losses and plant closures.

Black River Technical College has a campus in the city and will offer credit and non-credit courses to train and retrain workers, the school announced last week.