FULTON, Miss. (AP) — After thousands of layoffs in northeastern Mississippi’s furniture industry, some companies are hiring. And the state is subsidizing that hiring with tax credits and training money that may run into the millions of dollars.
Mississippi lost more than 40 percent of all furniture jobs in the last decade. But industry leaders say that they’re going to survive and that it’s appropriate for the state to help train new workers.
Itawamba Community College is seeking grant money to buy sewing machines to train potential employees.
Earlier this year, the Legislature extended through 2017 a $2,000-a-job tax credit for every new cut-and-sew worker who’s hired. The state doesn’t track how much money is claimed, but it’s clear hundreds of workers have been added since the credit’s creation in 2010.
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