Marshalltown

[Hawkfnntn]

I was born/raised/graduated in Marshalltown and my parents still live there. Luckily everyone is alright. My Facebook feed has just been nonstop videos of the tornado and the aftermath. Its been pretty crazy.

That tornado will have more of an impact on that town than I think most people realize. Lennox, one of the main employers in Marshalltown, had their factory wrecked badly and are currently closed down. They said that they would still pay employees thru the end of the month, but they haven't released anything else yet. Its been rumored for awhile that Lennox wanted out of Marshalltown and this gives them the perfect out...collect the insurance money and rebuild elsewhere. If that happened you'd be looking at 1,500 less jobs. I don't think it would cripple Marshalltown quite like Maytag leaving did to Newton, but it would still be devastating.

Ouch... That'd be quite the domino effect.

 

[okeefe4prez]

I was born/raised/graduated in Marshalltown and my parents still live there. Luckily everyone is alright. My Facebook feed has just been nonstop videos of the tornado and the aftermath. Its been pretty crazy.

That tornado will have more of an impact on that town than I think most people realize. Lennox, one of the main employers in Marshalltown, had their factory wrecked badly and are currently closed down. They said that they would still pay employees thru the end of the month, but they haven't released anything else yet. Its been rumored for awhile that Lennox wanted out of Marshalltown and this gives them the perfect out...collect the insurance money and rebuild elsewhere. If that happened you'd be looking at 1,500 less jobs. I don't think it would cripple Marshalltown quite like Maytag leaving did to Newton, but it would still be devastating.

Oof, this is horrible news. Isn't M-Town only like 30,000 people? 1,500 jobs has to be close to 10% of the workforce when you back out the kids, meth and heroin addicts and retirees. Factor in the ancillary job losses and the number will be well over 2,000. Fort Dodge had a similar job loss issue when IBP and Hormel closed up shop and the town lost like 20% of its population. The long term effects of losing a factory with those employment levels are absolutely devastating for a town like Marshalltown. Let's hope they try to rebuild, but with the migration of manufacturing to the southeast and south of the border, I ain't exactly optimistic.

 

[MoseSchrute]

I'm sure they are, but you do know these skits are fake, right?

I know they are edited to emphasize the desired outcome. I have no doubt such idiots exist, though. I've seen it firsthand.

 

[mopkins]

Let's hope they rebuild in Marshalltown. That would be devastating to a lot of people. 1500 Wow!

Ouch... That'd be quite the domino effect.

Oof, this is horrible news. Isn't M-Town only like 30,000 people? 1,500 jobs has to be close to 10% of the workforce when you back out the kids, meth and heroin addicts and retirees. Factor in the ancillary job losses and the number will be well over 2,000. Fort Dodge had a similar job loss issue when IBP and Hormel closed up shop and the town lost like 20% of its population. The long term effects of losing a factory with those employment levels are absolutely devastating for a town like Marshalltown. Let's hope they try to rebuild, but with the migration of manufacturing to the southeast and south of the border, I ain't exactly optimistic.

They pulled out the full court press including the Governor and Lennox decided to rebuild in Marshalltown. So there's a touch of good news

 

[okeefe4prez]

They pulled out the full court press including the Governor and Lennox decided to rebuild in Marshalltown. So there's a touch of good news

Whooo hooo. Yay Marshalltown. Good news! Let's hope it doesn't cost Iowa taxpayers a small fortune in incentives!

 

[mopkins]

Whooo hooo. Yay Marshalltown. Good news! Let's hope it doesn't cost Iowa taxpayers a small fortune in incentives!

yeah it makes me wonder what sort of under the table deal might have been made, but hoping for the best

 

[Seth53]

Mother Nature's way of urban renewal.

 

[Casey388]

I got back from vacation yesterday and drove through Mtown on my way home. The pictures really don't do it justice. It is crazy how with a tornado how a matter of a block can make a huge difference. Some houses were perfectly fine, while a house a block closer to the center of the storm had the top half of their house removed.

It seems like the storm just moved right down Main Street and affected about 5 to 6 blocks from north to south. With it hitting Main Street, it really will affect businesses for quite some time. An area I didn't know was affected as bad as it was, is the area north of the hospital. Everyone was talking about the courthouse and Lennox for good reason, but there is several buildings (UnityPoint Cardiology and Casey's General Store to name a few) that were just decimated.

Even if it took some under the table dealings to keep Lennox in Marshalltown, I hope it is worth it in the long run. Losing Lennox would of really hurt Marshalltown so that is a glimmer of hope for the area.