By Jeremy Weldon

Some 130 workers at Serta Simmons Bedding learned this week the company plans to close the Batesville factory by March 1, 2019. The company also announced the closing of its manufacturing plant in Lancaster, Pa.

Serta has manufactured mattresses here for more than 30 years at its location on the corner of Hwy. 35N and Brewer Rd.,  in north Batesville, and has been a solid part of the Panola County Industrial Park for those years.

Serta Simmons Bedding released the following statement Wednesday afternoon:

“As the largest bedding manufacturer in North America, we continually evaluate how best to utilize our extensive manufacturing network to better serve our retail partners and customers. As part of this evaluation, we have made the difficult decision to close our Lancaster, Pa., and Batesville, Miss., plants and transfer this volume to other plants in our network. We will provide these impacted employees with severance and access to the Serta Simmons Bedding Employee Assistance Program. We will also coordinate with each state’s Rapid Response Program to provide support such as resume writing and job search assistance.”

Local officials were surprised to hear of the closing, saying no indication of trouble with the Batesville plant had been expressed by company managers. The local plant manager referred all media inquiries to the national office, indicating that he had been told very little about plans to close.

“This kind of caught us off guard,” said Mayor Jerry Autrey. “I had a worker from there call City Hall and told me and I informed the board about it. If they’re closing from a loss of business there’s not much we can do, but if it’s something that the city or the county can do we want them to know that we are ready to do anything we can to keep this from happening.”

“Anytime you lose a business that’s been here for 30 years it’s terrible,” Autrey said. City officials have already begun working with the Panola Partnership to reach out to corporate directors, he said.

Panola Partnership CEO Joe Azar, reached by telephone Wednesday at a national trade show, said his office will rally city and county officials to fight the closure with help from various state and federal economic development offices.

“I don’t like this one bit, and we’re not going to see these jobs leave Batesville without putting up a fight,” Azar said. “I’ve walked through that plant many times and the work they perform is amazing. The Serta employees here are skilled workers and the quality of their production has never been a question.”

Azar said he believes company officials will at least look at proposals to have state grants and low-interest loans offered as incentives to upgrade the plant and possibly change their minds about leaving the area.

“This is a very important industry in our county and we can’t afford to lose any jobs,” Azar said. “We are hearing that this decision was made as part of a new corporate plan, but we’re not giving up until we’ve had a chance to line up some options and meet with the directors.”

Azar said Serta employees have manufactured a great product for many years. “They are tremendously skilled and are the best at what they do. They have illustrated loyalty, dedication, craftsmanship, and pride in their work,” he said.

The economic developer said he has heard, but not confirmed, that Serta officials are blaming the closing on internet sales and have refused to make needed improvements to their Batesville facility to produce a relevant product for that space.

Mayor Autrey said his board will work hard to change minds, and has sent word to all the employees affected by the closing that other opportunities are available locally. “I would encourage them to apply at Blauer and other places because these workers have a lot of experience in the sewing business and are very good.”

Azar said he has personally spoken to all the other factories in the county and displaced workers should submit resumes as soon as possible to those places. Blauer (in the old Batesville Casket building) and Insituform especially have production lines that require skilled sewing.