Murray, Ky.–At an announcement Thursday, officials with the Murray-Calloway County Economic Development Corp. said $2.6M has been granted to the West Kentucky Workforce Development Board to provide career and training services to help employees who will be affected when the Briggs and Stratton manufacturing plant in Murray closes.
Briggs and Stratton is beginning the process of closing by laying off some 600 employees this week. The layoff period will continue through June 2020.
Economic Development President Mark Manning said the funding is from both state and federal courses and will create a “career discovery center.”
That center will be opening at Heritage Hall on the Murray State campus in November.
Briggs and Stratton announced in August that after over 30 years in Murray, their facility there will be closing by the Fall of 2020.
The closure will have a major economic impact in the local area, with millions of dollars in lost wages. A large majority of employees of the facility come from Calloway County, but many also come from Henry County, Tenn., and Graves and Marshall Counties in Kentucky.
In their original announcement on the closure, Briggs and Stratton officials said they plan to consolidate production of its small vertical-shaft engines into its Poplar Bluff, Mo., facility.
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