Summary:
The importance of remembering why “Small Business Saturday,” the Saturday after Thanksgiving, should be observed far more than once a year.
While most have been gobbling away yesterday, celebrating Thanksgiving rituals as always, we at JarrattVA.fyi have been mulling over the notion of the Boar’s Head plant in Jarratt, VA, closing indefinitely. Over 500 people lost their jobs.
Over 500 people lost their jobs.
Let that sink in, folks: Over 500 people lost their jobs.
A huge amount of information (or, rather, misinformation) has been published in various articles across the internet since July about how much of a blow this closure will impact the Town of Jarratt, Virginia. The majority of these publications actually automatically start off with “JARRATT, VA –” which, under a technicality, is only a partial truth.
The difference between “JARRATT, VA” and “The Town of Jarratt, VA” starts with the postal code 23867; if every place that was located in 23867 was actually in the town limits, the Town of Jarratt would encompass roughly 10 square miles of land! The Town of Jarratt, VA, actually only encompasses 1.25 square miles of land, and has separated itself from the rest by an incorporated boundary line since 1938. [Zoning and Planning Map, courtesy Town of Jarratt.]
Two towns/hips directly hit by the Boar’s Head closure are, in fact, the Town of Jarratt (roughly 4.5 miles east) and Purdy (roughly 4.4 miles west) in relation to the nearest gas station and/or place to stop for a bite to eat.
The Boar’s Head plant in question was basically placed directly between the two areas where one could quickly stop to top off the tank before heading home - if you wanted to cash your paycheck, you would head to the Town of Jarratt and swing by BSV before heading out onto 301/I-95, be it north onto 40 E/W or to Stony Creek, or south onto 58 E/W or to Emporia (or even further to cross into North Carolina).
Or if you needed to take 58-West, you could head to Purdy and take “the Purdy Road” south into Emporia and stop by the BSV there to cash your check before heading to places like Freeman or Lawrenceville; if you wanted to take 58-East, you might be heading to Courtland or Franklin.
You could also take “the Purdy Road” north for the scenic route onto 40-West toward McKenny and Blackstone, and 40-East to Stony Creek (remember, you’re on the scenic route) and Waverly,
There were so many articles on the notion of how much the closure will affect the Town of Jarratt, Virginia and/or CornerStone Crossroads (what MapQuest still notes as being “The Purdy Store”). There were so many articles that almost oozed that so many people in these areas have been blindsided, losing their jobs so suddenly.
One article stated that the Jarratt Town Manager declined to comment [NBC 12 On Your Side, Sept. 3rd], yet in another they made the statement “We’re a bedroom-community—we just don’t have a lot of jobs in town.” [Wall Street Journal, Sept. 23rd, via MSN] (The Town Manager's words are misleading, as there have never actually been a lot of jobs within the boundary lines of the Town itself - therefore it has always been a "bedroom-community.")
Even though the Town’s population is just over 600 people, those 600 people are not the 500+/- that lost their jobs at Boar’s Head this year. The Town’s working population (ages 20 to 60) reaches roughly 400, as far as the 2020 US Census is concerned, which means you’re obviously 100 short of the layoff numbers - and you’re not calculating into the sum that there are other areas of employment within a 50 mile radius of the Town limits, and in today's employment mannerisms, people can also work from home from anywhere in the world - as long as they have a decent internet connection.
The permanent closure of the Boar’s Head plant, found in Greensville County, Virginia, will not cripple the Town directly:
The Boar’s Head plant was not located within the Town’s corporate limits, therefore the Town did not gain monies from real estate nor property taxes, and they did not gain an annual business license fee from the plant. Boar’s Head, as an entity, merely gave a few donations to help with beautification (benches) as well as donations to various non-profit endeavors.
The Boar’s Head plant actually provided their employees and truck drivers as potential customers for the businesses in the Town of Jarratt (east), Purdy (west), the City of Emporia (south), as well as the Town of Stony Creek (north) – THAT is what will be crippled, as far as the Boar’s Head closure is concerned, in relation to the Town of Jarratt, Virginia.
The Boar’s Head plant’s closure will be a quick decrease in Jarratt’s sales tax revenue, as well as the meals tax revenue (put into place at 4% in 2014 [PDF]).
The Boar’s Head plant’s closure will place a hurting on the BSV branch in the Jarratt town limits, as a large portion of their customer base is (or was) check cashing by Boar’s Head employees.
The Boar’s Head plant’s closure will decrease the amount of gasoline sold at both gas stations, as well as the amount of diesel fuel purchased at the Sunoco station; it will also place a huge decrease in the food, prepared foods, alcohol, tobacco, and lottery sales that these two stations rely on rather heavily.
The Boar’s Head plant’s closure will put a larger decrease in the number of sales at the local hardware store, and - while it is under debate as to the town boundary line as far as if it is actually in the town limits, or just outside of it - even the Dollar General is feeling the pinch.
The Boar’s Head plant’s closure will keep persons from possibly purchasing a new or used vehicle from the car dealership, or have a tuneup or tow from the auto service business just down the street.
The Boar’s Head plant’s closure will mean that almost all of the people who worked at Boar’s Head will never actually attempt to see if they like the food offered by the newest restaurant.
Because the majority of the Boar’s Head plant’s employees were not actually from the Town of Jarratt, Virginia, the businesses will feel the pinch - much like they did in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
During that time frame, local businesses were obtaining local business patrons. Some of that business was spurred with the help of federal funding [ARPA, PDF; Jarratt allotment found on pg.7] given to the Jarratt town residents/businesses by the mayor [PDF].
Since that time, local business patrons have moved back out to the social life of shopping in places as far as Colonial Heights, Franklin, and South Hill, Virginia - as well as Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina - for something as simple as a hammer and a case of water.
People go farther, and pay more in time and gasoline, to pick up something for less money than they would have had they bought it close to home. It would be one thing if gasoline was not mixed with ethanol and cost less than a dollar per gallon - but that hammer and that case of water probably ends up costing about a tenth less if they had decided to buy it from a store just down the street rather than pay extra on fuel.
This long article is, in fact, about something as simple as this:
Not every small town has a large Boar’s Head plant down the street that is closing and/or has closed down and had to either relocate or lay off 500+ employees.
As an aside: The Town of Jarratt, Virginia, also had Georgia-Pacific right at its doorstep that closed in 2013 with a layoff of roughly 80 people. In 1939 [yes, over 80 years ago] when that plant was originally opened - owned and operated by Johns-Manville - it actually employed roughly 400 people, but the company sold the business/building to GP in the 1970s. How it went from roughly 400 to roughly 80 in just over 70 years is anyone’s guess, but that was also a downward decline in revenue to the local businesses.
Every small town has at least one small business.
Every small business should be viewed as a business that deserves your patronage - not just on Small Business Saturday - the Saturday after Thanksgiving - but all year long.
If you would like to support the small businesses in the Jarratt, Purdy, Emporia, and Stony Creek areas, they would be grateful for your patronage - tomorrow, and every day thereafter [times for businesses being open, and on what days, should be on the sites listed - if they are not, feel free to call ahead before making plans to travel].
- Jarratt, VA, USA:
For the People.
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