KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - A manufacturing facility in Loudon County announced just days before Christmas plans to lay off 250 workers.

According to a WARN Notice filed to the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Morgan Olson LLC will permanently lay off 250 workers beginning on Feb. 11, 2025.

Morgan Olson is a manufacturer of walk-in step vans. The company’s website said the company’s expansion into Loudon County “more than doubled our step van manufacturing capability” and “provides meaningful work for over six hundred team members.”

The notice said the facility’s employees are not represented by a collective bargaining agreement.

A rapid response team with the East local Workforce Development Board will be working with the workers and the employer to minimize the impact of the layoffs, the notice said.

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‘Lives are impacted heavily’

Loudon County preparing for hundreds of people losing their jobs in February Large manufacturer in Loudon County announced plans to layoff 250 workers in 2025

LOUDON COUNTY, Tenn. (WVLT) - Right now, 250 people were told that come February, they will not have a job.

“These are significant emotional events and we don’t take them lightly,” ETHRA Workforce Services Director EL Morton said. “These folks lives are impacted heavily by these events.”

Right before the holidays, Morgan Olson, a manufacturing firm in Loudon County, announced their plans of a mass layoff.

This can be a hard time for many, including the economy in a growing Loudon County.

“Anytime a community loses 250 jobs, you know it has a ripple effect on our local economy and retail,” Loudon City Mayor Jeff Harris said.

Many, including city and county officials as well as the East Tennessee Human Resources Agency (ETHRA), are trying to help those displaced employees find a new job that can keep them in the area.

“It’s significant, Loudon County Economic Development Agency (EDA), we’re in coordination with them, they do a good job attracting jobs and keeping jobs in their economy, and so we’re confident that they and surrounding counties can absorb those employees and good wages and benefits,” Morton said.

Loudon County EDA along with ETHRA are working with both the company as well as the displaced workers.

“Companies got to make their decisions based on their economy and their financial situation, all we can do is respond to it,” Harris said. “We’re gonna respond in the most positive way we can and we feel like the best way to do that is to look at these employees and see what we can do to try to find them placement as quick as possible.”

ETHRA is offering different strategies to help people find new jobs. They are doing what they can to help these workers get through a scary time.

“The services that we’ll provide are on site job fairs and we will advise them on how to file their unemployment insurance claims,” Morton said.

Pervious story 10/25/23

285 Layoffs

Loudon truck body builder, Morgan Olson, announced earlier this week they will be making 285 permanent layoffs from the Loudon facility. The layoffs will be effective December 22, three days before Christmas.

Morgan Olson began operations in Loudon in late 2015, early 2016. They claimed they would create 500, $20 per hour jobs.

Unfortunately, both Loudon County and Loudon City government officials voted to give the company a large 10 year PILOT, tax break. The PILOT expires December 31, 2025. Built into the PILOT was a claw back clause that if the company didn't achieve certain employment goals by the end of December 2020, the company would be required to pay additional taxes.

According to the recent Thrive Loudon County report, in 2022, Morgan Olson employed 450 people.

Hopefully, our esteemed EDA will be working to fulfill the claw back provision of the PILOT.

Click Here To Read Layoff Letter

Previous News Sentinel Story from October 2015

Loudon approves tax deals for businesses

Hugh G. Willett knoxnews.com

LOUDON — The Loudon County Commission and the Loudon City Council voted to grant payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT, incentives to two projects in a special called meeting Monday, including a multimillion-dollar plan promising to bring hundreds of jobs to a vacant spot in a county industrial park.

The 10-year plan for delivery van maker Morgan Olson will invest about $45 million to occupy the vacated John Deere building in the Matlock Industrial Park.

County Economic Development Agency executive Pat Phillips told the council and commission that Morgan Olson would probably hire 400 workers quickly, with the possibility of reaching a total of 500 or more jobs in two to three years. The increase in hundreds of good-paying jobs — averaging about $20 per hour — will reduce unemployment and raise average wages in the county, Phillips said.

Morgan Olson is probably the second largest project in the region in the past few years, Phillips said. The company now lists job openings in Tennessee, including buyers, planners, schedulers, engineering managers and supervisory positions.

The company will receive a 10-year tax break with an annual lease payment of $122,832. The PILOT would begin in January and continue through December 2025.

"What will this cost us?" Commissioner Henry Cullen asked.

Phillips said the cost to the county in lost taxes could be about $71,000 and the cost to the city about $45,000. The offset would be the creation of hundreds of jobs and increased sales tax revenue.

County Mayor Buddy Bradshaw said he supports the deal because of the immediate benefits and his faith that Morgan Olson is committed to the project. "I think this has room to grow," he said.

Loudon Mayor Joey Greenway said he expected to see more cars on the road and more revenue from gas stations in the town.

Commissioner Van Shaver said he was concerned the county was acting in haste. He said he believes the company would have come to the county regardless of the tax incentives. "We're just giving it away. I believe a better deal could have been had," he said. The deal is better for the city, which collects sales tax, than for the county, which has the burden of funding the school system, he said.

The two bodies also voted to grant a 5-year PILOT for Van Hoose Co., a maker of concrete fixtures, in exchange for a $12 million new investment that would create 50 or more jobs.

Shaver said the Van Hoose Co. deal was an example of setting the bar too low. More, smaller companies are going to be asking for tax deals in the future, he said. Commissioner Shaver voted NO on both PILOTs.

10/22/15