May 25, 2013
Ann Watford is among a number of people who was laid off from Westpoint Stevens in Abbeville after working there for 40 years.
"When you work with people for that long it's almost like your family and I think that was one of the hardest parts when they closed the doors. It's like your family is gone."
The company decided to move its textile production from Abbeville to an overseas operation in favor of lower production costs and cheaper employment back in 2009.
"The last few years were really bad. It was like you were on a roller coaster. You were up and down because people kept talking about the fact that we were gonna close."
4 years after the closing of Westpoint Stevens, the initial shock may have settled down in Abbeville, but...
"Abbeville High School says it's just now feeling the effects of the devastating closure."
"The first year or two we weren't really hurting too bad, but the last couple of years we've seen a decline in our student enrollment. I think we're down to about 460 grades 7 to12 and that's a decline of about 50 to 70 people in the last couple of years. The biggest problem we have with that is we're losing teacher units. We've lost 3 teacher units this past year."
With jobs, students, and teachers disappearing from Abbeville, residents may wonder what the fate of the small town will be.
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