The great grandnephew of Levi Strauss, the founder of denim manufacturer Levi Strauss & Co., spoke to members of the Madison County Chamber of Commerce in January 1981.
Then president of Levi Strauss and an honoree at the chamber’s annual awards banquet, Peter E. Haas promised that the Levi distribution plant in Gluckstadt would employ 400 people by 1984 and be one of the company’s most efficiently operated plants.
Chamber officials celebrated landing the distribution center as their major accomplishment for the year in 1981.
The $20-million center at 501 Denim Way resulted from the Industrial Development Council, a group of counties including Hinds, Rankin, Madison, Yazoo and Warren that banded together to promote and attract industry to the area. The plant was made possible through the approval of an Urban Development Action Grant, which Congressman Sonny Montgomery’s office was said to assist in speeding up the processing of the application.
Times have changed.
Now, Madison County leaders are waiting to hear when the plant will close.
Levi Strauss & Co. announced in May it planned to “wind down operations” at the facility due to “accelerating operational costs and infrastructure needs.”
“I have no additional information with regards to timing of the closure or future plans for the current location,” said Joey Deason, executive director of the Madison County Economic Development Authority.
“I have communicated with Levi Corporate Governmental and have been informed that I will be contacted when appropriate.”
Deason told the Madison County Board of Supervisors in May that he planned to meet with the Mississippi Department of Employment Security and the Mississippi Development Authority to put together a plan to help employees who are laid off secure new jobs and for finding a new tenant for the building.
Deason told the supervisors he hopes to arrange a job fair that displaced workers could attend.
The building that houses the distribution center is about 700,000 square feet and in a good location, he said.
“I have already been contacted by multiple interested parties that are interested in the Gluckstadt facility,” he said.
The center had approximately 500 employees in December 2022, Deason said, and the outlook for them to obtain new jobs is positive.
“I have also been contacted by numerous local companies that are interested in hiring the displaced workers,” he said.
