When times are tough, even well-established companies struggle and face the prospect of closing.
Gate Precast, the successor to Arkansas Precast, the 40-year-old Jacksonville construction company, will shut its doors at the end of May, the victim of the recession and consolidation in the building industry. About 65 local people will lose their jobs, and a skeletal design team will remain here to serve other plants owned by Gate Precast.
The late Tom Cory, who founded Arkansas Precast in 1968, helped make the business one of the leading suppliers of precast concrete in the nation. It helped build First Arkansas Bank in Jacksonville, Razorback Stadium, the Oklahoma state Capitol, Alltel’s and Axciom’s headquarters in Little Rock and hundreds of other projects, both large and small.
Arkansas Precast built the fountain in front of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce building in memory of Tom Cory, who moved down here from up North to build his successful business.
He helped organize the Jacksonville Commerce Corp., which sought to bring new business to town. That was not always an easy task, but his company’s presence inspired others to start their businesses here, making them feel welcome and assuring them that they, too, could do well if they gave it their best shot and took care of their employees and their customers.
He was the self-made man who worked extra hard when the going got tough, but the company changed hands a couple of times since his passing, and corporate ownership —Arkansas Precast was sold last year to Gate Petroleum of Florida — cares little about the community and more about the bottom line. Companies like that don’t get too sentimental about putting 65 people out of work.
They will have a hard time finding manufacturing jobs around here anytime soon. Tom Cory would have wept.
