(The following story by Eric Timmons appeared on The Register-Mail website on May 23, 2010.)
GALESBURG, Ill. — BNSF, Galesburg’s biggest employer, has rehired all 122 of the employees the company furloughed locally in the wake of the economic downturn that began in 2008.
Gates Rubber, meanwhile, has refilled eight positions it cut in 2009 and created one new job. A drop in business forced the company to lay off workers and reduce hours last year.
Galesburg Regional Economic Development Association President Greg Mangieri said the news from BNSF was positive for Knox County and a sign that the economy in general was starting to recover from a severe recession.
“Obviously Galesburg over the years has risen and fallen on the economies of the railroad and this is certainly a good sign,” Mangieri said of BNSF’s rehiring announcement.
Intermodal railroad traffic through Galesburg has reached an 18-month peak, Mangieri said, reaching a level not seen since midway through 2008.
That’s a sign that rail traffic is returning to levels seen before the economy crashed in the fall of 2008, which led to significant declines in most business sectors.
Railroad traffic is viewed as a key economic indicator, Mangieri said, and the sector is generally the first to feel the effect of a downturn but the last to show signs of recovery.
Mangieri said that’s because freight traffic tends not to pick up until retailers run down inventory they amass as demand drops during a recession.
Amy McBeth, BNSF’s director of public affairs for Illinois, said the company had begun rehiring staff six months ago and had now rehired all 122 furloughed workers in Galesburg.
The furloughed workers were in BNSF’s mechanical and transportation craft divisions, according to McBeth.
‘We are very glad too have 100 percent of our employees called back, it’s a positive sign,” McBeth said Friday.
The BNSF classification yard in Galesburg is the second largest in the company’s system and with roughly 1,100 employees is Knox County’s biggest single employer.
A source at Gates said the company had rehired seven of the eight staff let go in 2009. One worker decided not to return but a new hire filled the position. One new job was created, the source said.
The jobless rate in Galesburg for March was 11.7 percent, significantly higher than the 9.6 percent rate recorded in March of 2009. But the rate did drop one percentage point compared to February of this year.
The unemployment rate does not include people who have given up looking for work or are working part-time because they can’t get full-time work.