&8220;We must start with the reality that corporations cannot guarantee anyone a lifetime job any more than corporations have a guarantee of immortality.&8221; – John Snow

Last week&8217;s news that The Elastic Corporation would shutter the doors of its Columbiana factory came as little surprise to many in Shelby County, but the reality of the company&8217;s departure has dealt a sobering blow to those who work there.

More than 200 jobs will be lost, many of which have been held by loyal employees who have invested their entire working career at the plant. The Elastic Corp facility is expected to complete the shutdown by the end of this year.

The Elastic Corporation produces elastic tapes that make up the bands in undergarments for companies like Fruit of the Loom, Vanity Far and Jockey. These companies that Elastic Corp sells their product to are also feeling the pressure to relocate jobs overseas.

History tells us that Elastic Corporation was once the 11th largest employer in Shelby County, but the pressures on textile manufactures in the United States have dwindled the employment rolls at such factories across the United States.When a manufacture can create a similar product for less elsewhere, any times they will take that bargain.

What we now face in Shelby County, and Columbiana specifically, is to replace the jobs lost by our friends and neighbors.

This is the task at hand and the leadership at the local, county and state level is well prepared to do so.

According to an Elastic Corporation spokesperson, the company is relocating its Columbiana operations to Honduras where it can find &8220;…lower wages, for cheaper work.&8221;

Perhaps. But the company will be hard pressed to find a more loyal, dedicated workforce than the one it is leaving behind here in Shelby County.

The loyal and dedicated workers of Elastic Corporation, many of whom had worked at the Columbiana factoryfor more than a decade, have

become victims of a

hanging world