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Hundreds of Florida manufacturing jobs will soon be lost as one well-known company moves its operation off-shore.
Hav-A-Tampa is closing its factory near Seffner, a move that will leave 500 employees without a job. The work currently done at this plant will now be performed in an Altadis plant in Puerto Rico, where the company has extra manufacturing capacity. The company said it will not close a nearby
distribution center, located off U.S. 301, where it employs about 150
workers.
Hav-A-Tampa has been manufacturing tobacco products for 100 years. The company is often credited for revolutionizing the cigar industry with its use of birch wood tips and mechanized rolling. The company said exorbitant taxes levied on tobacco by federal and state governments has caused them to lose business.
"We can't afford to
make these cigars in the U.S. anymore," Office Manager Denise Harrison said in an article by Examiner.
Company officials said the current economic recession and the growth of indoor smoking bans have contributed to a decrease in sales. However, most of the decline is attributed to the State Children's Health Insurance Program, a federal program that provides health insurance to low-income children. That program is funded, in part, by taxes on cigars and cigarettes, which is now up to about 40 cents.
While cutting down on tobacco products may be the smart, healthy and moral thing to do, it's hard to ignore that jobs are being lost in the process. The loss of these jobs will particularly hit hard in Florida, which already has a declining manufacturing industry.
Florida's manufacturing industry employed 335,900 workers during May, according to the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is down from 340,000 workers during April and a 10.7 percent decrease from last year.
It's a hard time with recession and changing attitudes about many things. Perhaps part of a severance package or circumstance, should be some assistance to find alternative employment. Not really practicable in this economic climate, I suppose, but definitely necessary to changes made regarding climate change, etc.
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