Report to the Chairman and Ranking

Member, Committee on Finance, U.S.

Senate

United States General Accounting Office

GAO

August 2001 TRADE

ADJUSTMENT

ASSISTANCE

Experiences of Six

Trade-Impacted

Communities

GAO-01-838
Page i GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

Letter 1

Results in Brief 2

Background 5

Trade-related Layoffs Hurt Case Study Communities 8

Assistance to Dislocated Workers Can Be Substantial, but

Structural Problems Impede Service Delivery 13

Adjustment Assistance Does Not Match Communities’ Challenges 22

Lessons Learned From Trade-Impacted Communities’ Experiences 32

Agency Comments and Our Evaluation 34

Appendix I Watsonville, California, Case Study Profile 36

Appendix II Coushatta, Louisiana, Case Study Profile 41

Appendix III Owosso, Michigan, Case Study Profile 46

Appendix IV Washington and Chocowinity, North Carolina, Case

Study Profiles 51

Appendix V El Paso, Texas, Case Study Profile 56

Appendix VI Martinsville and Henry County, Virginia, Case Study

Profiles 63

Appendix VII Objectives, Scope, and Methodology 68

Appendix VIII Comments From the Department of Commerce 71

Contents
Page ii GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

Appendix IX Comments From the Department of the Treasury 74

Appendix X GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments 78

Tables

Table 1: TAA-Certified Workers in Case Study Communities, Fiscal

Years 1995-2000 10

Table 2: TAA and NAFTA-TAA Payments and Numbers of

Recipients in Case Study Communities, Fiscal Years 1995-

2000 14

Table 3: Profile of TAA and NAFTA-TAA Participants Compared to

Total U.S. Workforce, Fiscal Years 1999-2000 24

Table 4: Federal Economic Adjustment Assistance to Case Study

Communities, Fiscal Year 1995-Early Fiscal Year 2001 28

Table 5: Profile of Watsonville, CA 36

Table 6: Profile of Coushatta, LA 41

Table 7: Profile of Owosso, MI 46

Table 8: Profile of Beaufort County, NC 51

Table 9: Profile of El Paso, TX 56

Table 10: Profile of Martinsville and Henry County, VA 63

Figures

Figure 1: Timeline for Receipt of TAA and NAFTA-TAA Benefits 7

Figure 2: Profiles of Six Case Study Communities 9

Figure 3: Photos of Watsonville, CA 39

Figure 4: Photos of Coushatta, LA, and a Training Facility in a

Neighboring Community 42

Figure 5: Photos of Owosso, MI 48

Figure 6: Photos of Washington and Chocowinity, NC 52

Figure 7: Photos of El Paso, TX 59

Figure 8: Photos of Martinsville and Henry County, VA 65
Page iii GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

Abbreviations

CAIP Community Adjustment and Investment Program

EDA Economic Development Administration

GED General Equivalency Degree

NAFTA-TAA North American Free Trade Agreement Transitional

 Adjustment Assistance

PREP Proactive Reemployment Project

TAA Trade Adjustment Assistance

WIA Workforce Investment Act
Page 1 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

August 24, 2001

The Honorable Max Baucus

Chairman

The Honorable Charles E. Grassley

Ranking Member

Committee on Finance

United States Senate

The rapid pace of economic change due to the globalization of national

economies has heightened concerns about the efficacy of federal trade

adjustment assistance. While the transition to the “new economy” has

meant an increase in technology and service sector jobs, it has also

resulted in the loss of many manufacturing jobs as companies that cannot

compete with lower-priced imports close or relocate to lower-wage

countries abroad. The federal government recognizes that while the

benefits of free trade are widely dispersed across the economy, the costs

of worker dislocation effects are more localized. Accordingly, federal

trade adjustment assistance programs are designed to target aid to

dislocated workers through the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) and

North American Free Trade Agreement Transitional Adjustment

Assistance (NAFTA-TAA) programs. There are also assistance programs to

mitigate the adverse impacts of trade for businesses, the Trade Adjustment

Assistance for Firms program, and for communities, the Community

Adjustment and Investment Program. At the Committee’s request, we

completed evaluations of these programs in 2000.1

As you requested, this review builds on our previous work by providing

distressed communities’ perspectives on how trade adjustment assistance

and other assistance programs have helped them deal with the adverse

impacts of trade. We conducted case studies in six trade-impacted

communities where we examined (1) the impact of trade-related layoffs on

these communities, (2) the experiences of these communities with traderelated dislocated worker assistance, (3) their experiences with trade-

 1

These reports are Trade Adjustment Assistance: Trends, Outcomes, and Management

Issues in Dislocated Worker Programs (GAO-01-59, Oct. 13, 2000), Trade Adjustment

Assistance: Impact of Federal Assistance to Firms Is Unclear (GAO-01-12, Dec. 15, 2000),

and Trade Adjustment Assistance: Opportunities to Improve the Community Adjustment

and Investment Program (GAO/NSIAD-00-229, Sept. 29, 2000).

United States General Accounting Office

Washington, DC 20548
Page 2 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

related economic adjustment and other assistance, and (4) the lessons

learned from these communities’ experiences.

Between January and March 2001, we conducted case studies in

Watsonville, Calif.; Coushatta, La.; Owosso, Mich.; Washington and

Chocowinity, N.C.; El Paso, Tex.; and Martinsville and Henry County, Va.

We chose these locations using a number of criteria designed to identify

communities particularly hard hit by trade-related layoffs, including the

numbers of workers certified for federal adjustment assistance between

1995 and 1999, local unemployment rates, and diversity of industry and

geographic location. The communities we selected based on these criteria

thus likely represent more difficult cases than typical communities that

have experienced trade-related job losses. We visited each selected

community and interviewed local government officials, community

leaders, training providers, and workers receiving benefits from trade

adjustment assistance programs. We also met with federal and state

officials that administer trade adjustment assistance programs for workers

and economic assistance programs for communities, and analyzed the data

available on these programs. Appendixes I through VI contain profiles of

the six case study communities. For further information on our scope and

methodology, see appendix VII.

The communities in our case study all experienced major trade-related

plant closures and layoffs in the mid- to late-1990s. Two communities—

Martinsville/Henry County, Va., and Coushatta, La.—lost a large

percentage of local jobs in sudden plant closures and experienced

economic crises. The other communities—Owosso, Mich.; Washington and

Chocowinity, N.C.; Watsonville, Calif.; and El Paso, Tex.—experienced

rolling layoffs or a series of smaller plant closures that dislocated as many

or more workers but did so more gradually. This gave communities time to

absorb the job losses, except for El Paso, where the number of job losses

overwhelmed local services. Industries affected included apparel,

electronics, furniture, and food processing. All the communities

experienced short-term increases in their unemployment rates. The most

dramatic were due to the sudden closures: Martinsville’s unemployment

rate rose from 9 percent to 20 percent in the months immediately

following the layoffs, while Coushatta’s rate went from 13 to 23 percent. In

addition, the plant closures or layoffs meant that local economies lost

wage income, business tax revenues, and sales by firms that supplied or

subcontracted to the closed plants. In addition, while many dislocated

workers found new jobs, they often received lower wages. This caused

concern in some communities that plant closures might lead to a

Results in Brief
Page 3 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

decreased standard of living for a large portion of the community, as well

as concerns about additional job losses if more plants in these industry

sectors closed or relocated abroad.

Experiences in the communities we visited indicate that TAA and NAFTATAA assistance to dislocated workers, while substantial, could be

implemented more effectively. These programs provided $85 million in

assistance to the six communities during fiscal years 1995 through 2000,

$66 million for extended income support and $19 million for training.

However, program administrators and training providers in every

community we visited said that the programs have structural problems

that impede effective service delivery. Specifically, they said that

• the period of time dislocated workers receive income support versus

training benefits is inconsistent (18 and 24 months, respectively), which

local officials and workers said limited training options;

• unstable funding for training benefits results in delayed approval of

training requests; and

• maintaining separate TAA and NAFTA-TAA programs is administratively

inefficient and confusing.

One factor that influenced the implementation of training benefits in many

communities is that a significant percentage of dislocated workers needed

to earn a high school equivalency degree or take remedial courses before

they could even start a training program. There was also a debate in most

communities about whether workers should enroll in 2-year degree

programs or take shorter certificate programs and return to the workforce

as quickly as possible. All these factors were particularly challenging in El

Paso, Tex., where most of the 17,000 dislocated workers had low

educational levels and limited English proficiency. A related problem is

that outcome data on workers’ use of training benefits, reemployment

rates, and wages in a new job are incomplete. The continued lack of data

on program outcomes makes it difficult to evaluate the efficacy of the

varied training or job placement approaches used across communities and

states.

Case study communities’ experiences with economic adjustment showed

that the assistance available to them was limited and that there are no easy

answers to community recovery, even when funds are available. These

communities had relied on low-skilled manufacturing jobs, which are

disappearing, and now face the difficult task of diversifying their

economies while addressing fundamental human capital issues. As a

result, many of these communities are attempting to attract higher paying
Page 4 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

and more stable service industry jobs. However, 80 percent of the trade

adjustment assistance participants had a high school education or less,

compared to 42 percent in the U.S. workforce, which makes it difficult to

attract higher-skilled jobs and higher-paying employers. Limited access to

major transportation arteries also makes it difficult for these communities

to attract new businesses. Community leaders found that there is limited

federal and state assistance to help with economic adjustment. From fiscal

year 1995 to early fiscal year 2001, federal assistance to these communities

for economic adjustment totaled about $60 million, of which $44.5 million

went to one community, El Paso. Even when these communities received

funds, the funds were narrowly targeted and not necessarily designed to

address long-term human capital and infrastructure challenges.

These communities’ experiences with efforts to assist dislocated workers

and adjust to changing economic conditions offer several lessons.

Program administrators and training providers said that bureaucratic

rigidities in dislocated worker programs limited their flexibility in

addressing dislocated workers’ diverse training needs. Local officials also

believe that dislocated worker training programs are more effective and

job placements much higher when strong links exist between training and

local business needs. On the other hand, officials in El Paso, Tex., learned

that additional funding does not guarantee success if the necessary

training capacity does not exist to meet needs. The additional funding El

Paso received was in the form of a supplemental $45 million Department

of Labor grant, but local officials said that the lack of suitable training

meant that many workers received extended income support without

gaining needed job skills. One factor that contributed to the problems

assisting workers in El Paso was the lack of bilingual training designed for

adults. Economic adjustment assistance lessons are perhaps less clear, as

communities struggle to address their needs. Many must decide whether

to rebuild their prior economic base or retool it to compete in a changing

national and global economy. Some communities have yet to come to grips

with what course to pursue but know that if they do not take action, they

may face further erosion of their economic base along with decreased

standards of living. Three case study communities—Watsonville, Calif.; El

Paso, Tex.; and Martinsville, Va.—saw the need to develop economic

adjustment strategies, while the other three did not. Yet, even in

communities engaged in formal planning, local officials said they

continued to try to attract employment suited for low-skilled displaced

workers, since their workforces were not suited to the higher-skilled “new

economy” employers they would like to attract.
Page 5 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

Trade adjustment assistance programs provide federal assistance to

dislocated workers, firms, and communities. Economic adjustment

assistance programs are also available for distressed communities,

regardless of what has caused the adverse economic condition.

The TAA and NAFTA-TAA programs assist U.S. workers displaced by

foreign trade and increased imports. The current TAA program was

created by the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (P.L. 87-794). It was

substantially modified by the Trade Act of 1974 (P.L. 93-618) and the North

American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act of 1993 (P.L. 103-

182). The TAA program covers workers who lose their jobs because of

imports from any country, while the NAFTA-TAA program covers only

workers who have lost their jobs because of increased imports from or

shift of production to Mexico or Canada. These programs provide benefits

such as trade readjustment allowances (extended income support beyond

normal unemployment insurance benefits), services such as job training,

and allowances for job search and relocation. The Department of Labor

administers both programs and makes determinations regarding worker

group eligibility. Groups of workers or their representatives can petition

the Department of Labor for certification of eligibility to apply for services

or benefits under the program. The Department then conducts an

investigation to determine if increased imports or a shift in production to

Canada or Mexico have contributed to their loss of employment. Once a

TAA or NAFTA-TAA petition is approved covered workers must meet

several tests regarding the timing of their layoff and their length of

employment with the trade-impacted firm. Workers can be certified as

eligible for both programs but can claim benefits from only one. The states

play a major role by providing program services and benefits, such as job

training and reemployment services.2

 The TAA and NAFTA-TAA programs

together received about $407 million in fiscal year 2001 funding.

Generally, TAA and NAFTA-TAA income assistance for a dislocated

worker is equal to the weekly benefits of the state’s unemployment

insurance program3

 and may be paid for up to 52 weeks after the initial 26

 2

See Trade Adjustment Assistance: Trends, Outcomes, and Management Issues in

Dislocated Worker Programs, for a more detailed discussion of TAA and NAFTA-TAA

certification procedures and eligibility requirements.

3

Unemployment benefits vary widely among the states. In 1999, the average benefit was an

estimated $202 per week.

Background

Trade Adjustment

Assistance for Dislocated

Workers
Page 6 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

weeks (30 weeks in Massachusetts and Washington State) of

unemployment insurance benefits have been exhausted. Thus, eligible

dislocated workers may receive up to 78 weeks (18 months) of cash

payments if enrolled in approved training. Dislocated workers also are

eligible for up to 104 weeks (2 years) of training. Therefore, workers do

not necessarily receive income assistance during their entire period of

training.

The process by which workers receive assistance is often triggered when a

company gives 60 days’ notice of plant closure or layoffs. Generally, a state

Rapid Response Team, comprised of employment service officials, meets

with plant managers to obtain information about the prospective layoff or

closure and the profile of the affected workers. If appropriate, the Rapid

Response Team will suggest that the company apply for TAA or NAFTATAA certification, so that workers can receive these benefits after

separation. The Rapid Response Team generally returns to the plant after

the layoff or closure announcement to give workers information about

available services. In some states, training providers may join the team.

After separation, the dislocated workers can receive job placement

assistance, and if suitable employment is not found, they can enroll in

training. TAA and NAFTA-TAA provide extended income support and pay

for training, within certain time limits and restrictions. Figure 1 illustrates

the timeline for receipt of TAA and NAFTA-TAA benefits.
Page 7 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

Figure 1: Timeline for Receipt of TAA and NAFTA-TAA Benefits

Note: This figure depicts the timeline for receipt of TAA or NAFTA-TA benefits in its simplest form.

Workers may or may not receive a 60-day notice of layoff or plant closure; they may receive

substantially less notification. Workers may not receive extended income support immediately

following the receipt of unemployment compensation. Training also may often start somewhat later.

Both extended income support and training benefits may be received for less than the maximum time

shown here.

Source: Based on information from the Department of Labor.

The federal government has also established programs to assist tradeimpacted firms and communities suffering job losses due to changing

trade patterns. The TAA program for firms, established in 1962 and

administered by the Department of Commerce’s Economic Development

Administration (EDA), provides assistance to firms that can demonstrate

that increases in imports have contributed importantly to layoffs and

declines in sales or production. The TAA for firms program was funded for

$10.5 million in fiscal year 2000. The Community Adjustment and

Investment Program was established as a result of the 1993 North

American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act. Under the program,

loan guarantees, loans, and grants are provided to businesses and grantees

Trade Adjustment

Assistance for Firms and

Communities
Page 8 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

in eligible counties to help stimulate private sector employment and

growth.4

 An interagency committee chaired by the Department of the

Treasury administers this program. Loan guarantees to local businesses

have accounted for the preponderance of financing commitments to date.

The program was established with an initial capitalization of $22.5 million

and has received $20 million in additional appropriations to support and

expand program activities. The Congress did not appropriate any

additional funds for the program in fiscal year 2001.

The federal government also offers assistance programs for any distressed

community, regardless of whether the economic problems are trade

related, through EDA. EDA’s mission is to help generate jobs; retain

existing jobs; and stimulate industrial, technological, and commercial

growth in economically distressed areas. EDA assistance is generally

available to rural and urban areas of the nation experiencing high

unemployment, low income, and severe economic distress. In addition to

EDA assistance, a variety of other federal programs provide assistance to

economically distressed areas.5

The six communities we selected for our case studies varied in size,

demographics, and location, but they all had experienced major traderelated industry and job losses in the mid- to late-1990s. The firms that

these communities lost represent a cross section of the types of industries

that have been affected by increased trade, as shown in figure 2.

 4

Businesses and potential grantees must apply for CAIP financing. CAIP does not provide

funding directly to eligible counties, but rather offers access to competitively awarded

grants or enhanced access to credit through loans and loan guarantees.

5

See Economic Development: Multiple Federal Programs Fund Similar Economic

Development Activities (GAO/RCED/GGD-00-220, Sept. 29, 2000).

EDA’s Economic

Adjustment Assistance

Trade-related Layoffs

Hurt Case Study

Communities
Page 9 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

Figure 2: Profiles of Six Case Study Communities

Note: Population figures are from the 2000 Census. The number of workers cited is based on TAA

certifications.

Sources: Department of Labor TAA and NAFTA-TAA certifications, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and

Bureau of the Census.

Although many layoffs in these communities occurred gradually as

companies downsized to remain competitive with offshore producers,

each community experienced at least one major plant closure that had an

immediate impact on the local workforce and economy. For example,

Tultex, an apparel manufacturer and one of the largest employers in

Martinsville, Va., declared bankruptcy in December 1999 without prior

notice and immediately closed all operations, leaving more than 2,000

workers without jobs. Likewise, in December 1996, Coushatta, La., lost 500
Page 10 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

jobs when the Sunbeam small appliance plant, the city’s only

manufacturing concern, closed as part of a corporate restructuring that

moved many production operations offshore. Table 1 shows the total

number of workers certified6

 under the TAA program when threatened by

job loss in these communities, as well as the numbers certified in major

layoffs.

Table 1: TAA-Certified Workers in Case Study Communities, Fiscal Years 1995-2000

Location Major layoff

TAA-certified

workers in the

community’s major

layoff

 Total TAA-certified

workers, fiscal years

1995-2000

Watsonville,

California

Dean Foods 600 738

Owosso, Michigan Johnson Controls 270 616

Washington/

Chocowinity, North

Carolina

Hamilton Beach

Singer Furniture

3,525

500

3,880

500

Coushatta,

Louisiana

Sunbeam 500 500

El Paso, Texas Levi-Strauss 3,369 16,150

Martinsville/ Henry

County, Virginia

Tultex 1,771 3,523

Total 10,535 25,907

Note: To avoid the double counting that can occur due to dual certifications by TAA and NAFTA-TAA,

these data reflect dislocated workers certified by the Labor Department under the TAA program only.

Sources: Department of Labor and data supplied by local TAA and NAFTA-TAA program

administrators.

Trade-related plant closures and mass layoffs had serious economic

impacts on these communities. In the short term, their unemployment

rates rose dramatically. For example, as a result of the Tultex closure in

Martinsville, the city’s unemployment rate went from about 9 percent to

almost 20 percent in 1999. Similarly, in Coushatta, the closing of the

Sunbeam manufacturing plant in 1996 caused the city’s unemployment

rate to rise to almost 24 percent in 1997. Where the layoffs were

 6

Certification by the Department of Labor represents potentially affected workers—not

actual jobs lost. Workers may be certified when they face potential job loss but are not laid

off. In other cases, more workers than anticipated may lose their jobs. Program

certification is thus an indication of job losses due to trade, not an actual count. While data

are available showing the number of participants in the TAA and NAFTA-TAA programs,

not all dislocated workers may have enrolled in these programs.
Page 11 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

particularly severe, the communities were not prepared to deal with the

workers’ immediate needs, and local social service agencies were

overwhelmed with requests for assistance. In Martinsville, many displaced

Tultex workers were not eligible for assistance, such as food stamps,

because they owned vehicles and other assets and could not meet

requirements for assistance. These workers, who had also lost medical

coverage as a result of the Tultex bankruptcy, were forced to find

employment or seek assistance from charitable organizations such as the

Salvation Army.

Plant closures and layoffs also impacted local government revenues and

hurt local businesses. Government officials in some communities said that

they lost significant business tax revenues when companies abandoned

their plants. For example, according to Martinsville officials, as a result of

its bankruptcy, Tultex defaulted on more than $1 million in property taxes

owed in 1999, and the city will continue to lose tax revenue from the

property. In addition, Martinsville was forced to raise water and sewer

service rates to compensate for the $1.4 million Tultex had paid annually

for these services. The loss of income suffered by displaced workers also

affected local businesses. Coushatta officials said that Sunbeam’s $10

million annual payroll represented about one-fifth of Red River Parish’s

gross income. Such losses of income had a negative impact on retail sales

in trade-impacted communities. Businesses that supplied or subcontracted

for plants that closed also felt the impact. For example, in Martinsville, a

plant that generated steam for the Tultex factory was forced to close after

Tultex went bankrupt.

Many dislocated workers found new jobs in their area, but most were paid

lower wages, according to community officials. In Owosso, Mich.,

community officials said that many workers who lost their jobs in the

trade-impacted automobile accessory industry eventually found lowerpaying service sector jobs. In Washington, N.C., some workers who were

displaced when Hamilton Beach/Proctor-Silex, Inc. moved its small

appliance operation to Mexico found work in the local furniture-making

industry, but at significantly lower wages. Similarly, in Coushatta, many

former Sunbeam workers who were hired at a nearby compressor plant

that had recently opened were paid less. In El Paso, the city had been

successful in attracting some new manufacturing businesses, but many

displaced apparel workers were not qualified for the jobs and either found

employment in the service sector or remained unemployed. Based on

available but incomplete Department of Labor data, nationally only 61.5

percent of dislocated workers who responded and entered new
Page 12 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

employment reported that their new jobs paid at least 80 percent of their

old job’s wages.7

Some communities feared that the loss of relatively well-paying, but lowskilled jobs could lead to a decline in the standard of living for a large

segment of the population. Food processing jobs in Watsonville,

California, and apparel manufacturing jobs in El Paso, Texas, have been

considered a means of upward mobility for recent immigrants with limited

English skills. Workers who had these jobs were paid union-scale wages

and received fringe benefits, which provided an opportunity to buy homes

and send their children to college. Officials in Watsonville and Washington

said that, until recently, young people could count on a factory job after

high school where they might stay for most or all of their working lives.

However, workers who have lost manufacturing jobs in these communities

have limited prospects for obtaining new jobs with similar wages and

benefits, since the jobs now available require higher skills or more

education, according to community officials.

Communities we visited were also concerned about the threat of

additional trade-related layoffs and plant closures. Washington and

Martinsville community leaders said that they expect their textile and

apparel industries to continue to decline because of increased foreign

competition. Martinsville leaders also fear that the furniture industry,

another large employer in their community, will begin to feel the impact of

increased furniture imports. Watsonville leaders also expected that the

city would continue to lose food processing jobs as more companies shift

operations to Mexico.

 7

Research on dislocated workers has found that high-tenure workers separating from

distressed firms suffer long-term earnings losses averaging 25 percent per year. See L.S.

Jacobson, R.J. LaLonde, and D.G. Sullivan, “Earnings Losses of Displaced Workers,” The

American Economic Review, 1993. vol. 83(4), p. 685. More recent work found that importcompeting displaced workers who re-enter employment experience sizeable average

weekly earnings losses of about 13 percent. This average masks considerable variation,

with a quarter of displaced workers reporting earnings losses of 30 percent or more. This

is similar to findings showing that older, less educated, lower-skilled production workers,

with established tenures on the old job are more likely to experience earnings losses in

excess of 30 percent. See Lori G. Kletzer, testimony presented before the Subcommittee on

International Trade, Committee on Finance, U.S. Senate, on July 20, 2001.
Page 13 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

The communities we visited had experienced serious adverse impacts

from trade-related layoffs. The primary source of trade adjustment

assistance they received came from Labor’s TAA and NAFTA-TAA

programs for dislocated workers. TAA and NAFTA-TAA are widely

available and can provide substantial assistance to trade-impacted

dislocated workers through extended income support and training

benefits. However, local program administrators told us that these

programs have structural problems that hinder the effective delivery of

services. The states also varied in how they implemented training benefits.

Furthermore, it is difficult to evaluate the efficacy of the varied training or

job placement approaches used across communities or states, because

Labor’s outcome data for these programs are incomplete.

The trade adjustment assistance that our case study communities received

primarily came through the TAA and NAFTA-TAA programs for tradeimpacted dislocated workers. These are entitlement programs, available to

dislocated workers whose eligibility had been certified by Labor. TAA and

NAFTA-TAA provide substantial assistance, primarily by supplying

extended income support after unemployment insurance is exhausted, as

well as training benefits.8

TAA and NAFTA-TAA program data show that the largest benefit delivered

to displaced workers was in the form of extended income support,

primarily for partial wage replacement while in training. As shown in table

2, the two programs paid a total of just over $66 million in income support

to individuals in these communities over 6 years. Of this amount, almost

$44 million was for “basic” allowances,9

 or payments made in the 26 weeks

after unemployment benefits are exhausted. About $22 million was for

“additional” allowances made after basic allowances are exhausted, if the

dislocated worker is in training or has a training waiver. Thus about 78

percent of TAA and NAFTA-TAA assistance that went to workers in the

case study communities was used for income support. In these

communities, training courses, which can last up to 104 weeks, cost $19

million over the 6-year period, which was about 22 percent of total

funding. Forty-four percent of all program recipients in these communities

 8

Nationwide, the TAA and NAFTA-TAA programs provided about $1.2 billion for income

support and $500 million for training benefits between fiscal years 1995 and 2000,

according to Labor Department data.

9

Called the Basic Trade Readjustment Allowance by the Labor Department.

Assistance to

Dislocated Workers

Can Be Substantial,

but Structural

Problems Impede

Service Delivery

Most TAA and NAFTA-TAA

Assistance Was Income

Support
Page 14 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

enrolled in training. Total payments for income support and training was

$85 million. Among the communities, El Paso had by far the highest

number of recipients—8,581—and the highest total payments—at almost

$70 million.10 Watsonville, which received $390,000 in assistance payments

for 27 recipients, received the lowest amount of income support and had

only 48 individuals enrolled in training.

Table 2: TAA and NAFTA-TAA Payments and Numbers of Recipients in Case Study Communities, Fiscal Years 1995-2000

Watsonville,

CA

Coushatta,

LA

Owosso,

MI

Washington/

Chocowinity,

NC

El Paso,

TX

Martinsville/

Henry County,

VA Total

Dollars in thousands

Basic Trade Readjustment Allowance

Payments $60 $308 $1,544 $1,428 $39,075 $1,241 $43,656

Recipients 27 105 400 243 8,581 1,144 10,500

Additional Allowance

Payments $30 $192 $484 $591 $16,565 $4,543 $22,405

Recipients 12 72 46 57 3,343 6 3,536

Training

Costs $300 $323 $916 $201 $14,250 $3,345 $19,335

Recipients 48a120 135 496 9,803 1,343 11,945

Total payments $390 $823 $2,944 $2,220 $69,890 $9,129 $85,396

Notes: Recipients may appear in quarterly reports spanning more than 1 fiscal year. Likewise,

workers could have received more than one type of benefit in a fiscal year.

a

California program administrators said that many more displaced workers in Watsonville enrolled in

training under the Job Partnership Training Act.

Sources: GAO analysis of Department of Labor data collected quarterly from the states, except for

data on training costs and recipients in Watsonville, which came from California’s Employment

Development Department.

The effectiveness of the TAA and NAFTA-TAA programs is hampered by a

number of problems in the way the programs have been structured,

according to state program administrators and program participants. In

the communities we visited, we consistently heard concerns expressed

about problems related to inconsistency between the length of income

support and training benefits, which resulted in hardships and increased

numbers of dropouts; funding problems resulting in training delays;

maintaining two separate trade-dislocated worker programs; and

 10This does not include a $45 million grant El Paso received from the Labor Department for

extended trade adjustment assistance benefits for dislocated workers.

Structural Problems

Hinder Effective Delivery

of Services and Benefits
Page 15 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

programmatic requirements that hinder efficient delivery of services and

benefits to workers.

Program administrators, training providers, and workers in training

consistently said that the TAA and NAFTA-TAA programs needed to close

the gap between extended income support payments, which are provided

for up to 18 months, and training, which is provided for up to 24 months.

Although there are mixed views and little data on the outcomes associated

with shorter and longer training programs, as discussed below, the gap in

income support is believed to create difficulties for workers in 2-year

training programs because when income support payments stop,

dislocated workers generally drop out of training because they cannot

afford to remain in classes without financial assistance.

The local administrator for the TAA and NAFTA-TAA programs in

Washington, N.C., said that he and his staff advised workers to enroll in a

course of study that would take no more than 18 months to complete,

unless they had other sources of income. Dislocated workers we spoke

with, most of whom were currently enrolled in training, frequently

referred to workers who had to drop out of training due to financial

constraints. Family responsibilities and the need to make mortgage or car

loan payments had made it impossible for them to subsist without income

support. Some workers we interviewed said they could afford to continue

because they had a spouse who was working, but others said that they

chose training that lasted 18 months or less. This choice precluded them

from pursuing a 2-year Associate of Arts degree program, which could

result in higher earnings or better skills, or any 2-year course of study

involving initial remedial courses.11

Another problem cited by local program administrators with program

structure was the lack of a stable funding stream for training benefits.

Although training is a key part of a worker’s benefits, some states had

difficulties providing consistent funding for training due to budgetary

problems in the Department of Labor. The amount of funding the

Department of Labor can provide is governed by legislatively set caps on

training funds, with an annual limit of $80 million for TAA and $30 million

for NAFTA-TAA. According to the Trade Act Coordinator in North

Carolina, funding the trade programs has been an “administrative

 11Department of Labor program data show that about 12 to 16 percent of those entering

training took remedial courses during fiscal years 1995-2000.

Length of Time for Income

Support Limits Training

Options

Funding Problems Lead to

Training Delays
Page 16 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

nightmare” and that state funds frequently must be used.12 Generally,

federal funding is provided to states quarterly and is based on prior

expenditures. Because TAA and NAFTA-TAA certifications fluctuate, in

some cases, states may not have received sufficient funding to cover

workers enrolled during a quarter. In addition, state and local officials

reported that insufficient federal funds are available for the programs

toward the end of the fiscal year (Department of Labor officials said these

problems primarily occur in the first and last quarters of the fiscal year).

High levels of certifications from unanticipated layoffs and plant closures

have resulted in states—Texas and North Carolina, for example—with

large numbers of workers enrolled in training at the same time that

program officials were informed that no additional federal funds

remained.13 As we noted in our recent report, although Labor has issued

formal guidance that states should not stop enrolling workers in program

services and benefits when funding is temporarily unavailable, agency

officials report that few states have done so.14

In some cases, when federal training funds are depleted, states use

Workforce Investment Act(WIA)15 or other state monies. According to

officials from case study communities, dislocated workers were frequently

enrolled in training under WIA and then shifted to TAA or NAFTA-TAA

after Labor approved their petitions and certified them as eligible for

benefits.

A basic structural problem exists from maintaining separate TAA and

NAFTA-TAA programs, resulting in inefficiency, problems in

administration, and confusion, according to state program administrators

and program participants. Officials in every state administrative office and

case study community we visited stated that the certification and training

enrollment procedures of the two programs are different. They claimed

 12North Carolina, statewide, also had the highest number of TAA and NAFTA-TAA

certifications during fiscal years 1995-99.

13When this happens, states may apply for funding, such as National Emergency Grants

from the Secretary of Labor, put workers on waiting lists, or suspend the training program.

14Trade Adjustment Assistance: Trends, Outcomes, and Management Issues in Dislocated

Worker Programs (GAO-01-59, Oct. 13, 2000), p. 15.

15The Workforce Investment Act of 1998, Title I, provides assistance to persons who have

been laid off due to plant closures or mass layoffs and/or meet the eligibility requirements

outlined in the act. There is no special category of causation, such as that for tradeimpacted workers under TAA and NAFTA-TAA.

Difficulties Stemming From

Maintaining Separate Trade

Programs
Page 17 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

this hinders effective program administration—particularly because many

workers are certified for benefits under both programs and must select

one under which to take benefits. Officials said standardized requirements

would make the program easier to administer. This reaffirms what state

administrators from the 20 states with the largest TAA and NAFTA-TAA

programs told us in 2000.16 Maintaining two separate trade programs, with

differing timeframes and provisions for training waivers (available under

TAA but not NAFTA-TAA) is confusing to both program administrators

and dislocated workers. Dislocated workers in El Paso and Owosso stated

that the explanations about the differences that were provided by program

officials before they had to choose between programs were inadequate

and did not sufficiently clarify their questions. Officials in every state

administrative office and case study community we visited thus

consistently supported the consolidation of the TAA and NAFTA-TAA

programs. These officials believed that consolidation would simplify

program administration and rules and would be more efficient. The

Department of Labor agreed with this position in its letter of October 5,

2000, commenting on our evaluation of these programs, stating that it

supported measures to harmonize the requirements of the two programs.17

Other program requirements can also impede dislocated workers from

successfully completing training, according to state program

administrators and program participants. For example, to obtain income

support assistance, the NAFTA-TAA program generally requires that the

dislocated worker enroll in training by the last day of the 16th week

following their layoff or by the last day of the 6th week after publication of

the certification, whichever is later. State program administrators said this

requirement can limit training options for workers seeking to study at

community colleges because training courses may be semester-based and

not begin within the enrollment deadline. As a result, according to

program administrators, workers must sometimes enroll in less suitable

courses to retain their eligibility for income support. The TAA and NAFTATAA programs also prohibit dislocated workers from receiving income

support if there is a break in training exceeding 14 days. Program

administrators we interviewed explained that community colleges

generally have semester breaks lasting longer than 14 days, which means

 16Trade Adjustment Assistance: Trends, Outcomes, and Management Issues in Dislocated

Worker Programs, p.24.

17Ibid., p. 35.

Other Program Requirements

Hinder Delivery of Benefits and

Services
Page 18 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

that dislocated workers cannot receive any financial assistance during that

period.18

Other factors complicating service and benefit delivery include

certification delays at the Department of Labor and federal paperwork

requirements. As noted in our recent report, Department of Labor delays

in certifying TAA and NAFTA-TAA petitions or state program

administrative office delays in approving workers’ training plans can limit

workers’ options.19 Dislocated workers we interviewed in El Paso said that

acquiring approval for their training plans had taken months. Training

providers in North Carolina and Texas told us federal administrative and

paperwork requirements were cumbersome, rigid, and highly

bureaucratic. In North Carolina, the Trade Act Coordinator at the state

Employment Security Commission must approve any request for a

dislocated worker to change a community college class. Department of

Labor officials said that nearly all states have centralized approval of

workers’ training plans because local officials have less experience with

TAA and NAFTA-TAA regulations.

A number of challenges influenced implementation of TAA and NAFTATAA training benefits in our case study communities. One issue is related

to the profile of the dislocated workers, a significant percentage of whom

were in their 40’s, had not finished high school, and needed remedial

courses before they could start a degree or certificate program. Many in El

Paso, Tex., and Watsonville, Calif., also had limited English proficiency.

Given this dislocated worker profile, there was a debate in most

communities about whether workers should enroll in 2-year degree

programs or take shorter certificate programs and return to the workforce

as quickly as possible. These issues were particularly challenging in El

Paso, which had to contend with overwhelming numbers of dislocated

 18Our most recent report on these programs included a Matter for Congressional

Consideration regarding this issue. We noted that Congress may wish to consider

permitting workers who experience an unavoidable break in training of more than 14 days

(such as semester breaks) to continue to receive income benefits. See Trade Adjustment

Assistance: Trends, Outcomes, and Management Issues in Dislocated Worker Programs,

p. 26.

19Ibid., p. 23. We found that in fiscal year 1999, 58 percent of NAFTA-TAA investigations

exceeded the 40-day statutory requirements and 34 percent of the TAA investigations

exceeded the 60-day limit.

Communities Face

Significant Challenges in

Improving Dislocated

Workers’ Skills
Page 19 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

workers, many of whom had low educational levels and limited English

proficiency.

The profile of dislocated workers that emerged from our visits and

discussions with program administrators, training providers, and small

groups of dislocated workers is consistent with the Labor Department’s

available national data on TAA and NAFTA-TAA dislocated workers. The

Department’s data on these programs suggest that, nationwide, almost

two-thirds of the participants were women, with an average age of 43, and

generally low levels of education. Twenty-five percent had less than a high

school education when laid off. According to available data and

discussions with program administrators in El Paso and Watsonville, many

program participants in their communities also had limited English

proficiency. Officials in these two communities told us that the majority of

these workers were Hispanic, spoke little or no English, and many had not

gone much further than elementary or middle school. In Owosso, Mich.,

most dislocated workers were high school graduates. However, in

Coushatta, La.; Washington and Chocowinity, N.C.; and Martinsville, Va.,

significant numbers of the dislocated workers had not finished high

school, according to local officials.

Many dislocated workers had been with their employers for a considerable

number of years. We interviewed some dislocated workers in El Paso who

had worked for Levi-Strauss—one for almost 30 years. Similarly, many

workers at the Sunbeam plant in Coushatta and the Hamilton

Beach/Proctor-Silex, Inc., plant in Washington had worked there for more

than 20 years when they were laid off. Program officials and training

providers stated that these dislocated workers generally had an excellent

work ethic and wanted to reenter the workforce as quickly as possible.

However, many did not have a high school diploma or a General

Equivalency Degree (GED), and few businesses would hire them without

one or the other. Thus, many dislocated workers needed GED classes and

sometimes English as a Second Language classes before entering

occupational training and obtaining a job.

As a result of these factors, moving these workers further on the

educational or job skill continuum is a challenge. Moreover, considering

that the participants who did complete high school may have been in the

workforce for 2 decades, it is difficult for them to reenter the educational

system. Given these factors and the maximum 2 years of training available,

earning an Associate of Arts degree would represent a considerable

achievement yet may still leave these participants short of the skills

required for the new economy jobs.

TAA and NAFTA-TAA

Dislocated Workers Present

Training Challenges
Page 20 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

While program and training officials in most communities we visited were

debating the best method for retraining trade-dislocated workers, limited

outcome data on wages and employment outcomes make it difficult to

assess which methods are most successful. Specifically, the debate centers

on enrolling dislocated workers in 2-year degree programs to pursue an

Associate in Arts, Science, or General Education, which may give them

more options for a new, higher-skilled career, or enrolling them in shortterm certificate programs that provide specific occupational skills training.

In El Paso, the County Judge and the director of a community-based

training advocacy group told us that they believe the central problem

facing these workers was underemployment and that training should

ensure that dislocated workers have basic language skills and a 2-year

degree so that they can get a better job with a living wage. They saw

training as a way to help dislocated workers climb the employment ladder,

rather than ending up in another low-skilled, low-wage job with little hope

of advancement. The training advocacy group official said training should

be viewed as an investment that would provide a good return to the local

economy.

Others pointed out that many dislocated workers need remedial courses to

earn a GED, and in some cases they also need courses to gain proficiency

in English, which would take up most, if not all, the allotted training time.

They also pointed out that most dislocated workers need to complete

training in 18 months, rather than the 24 months allowable, because

income support ends at 18 months. They stated that it was important to

ensure that dislocated workers could complete their training program and

that shorter programs resulting in certification, such as those for certified

nursing assistants or truck drivers, were more practical. Finally, an

instructor we interviewed at El Paso Community College said it was best

to take a flexible approach in meeting workers’ needs. Some workers

could manage a 2-year degree program, but most needed a realistic

assessment of what they could accomplish in 18 or 24 months. For most,

she believed a shorter certificate course was the best option.

Program data suggest that most dislocated workers in these communities

are taking shorter training courses. While 11,945 workers enrolled in

training during fiscal years 1995 through 2000, only 3,536 workers (30

percent) received additional allowances, which provide income support

during the 12 to 18 months of program participation. (See table 2.)

According to program administrators and training providers, workers

generally do not continue training after income support benefits have

stopped.

Communities Debate Training

Alternatives Without Adequate

Outcome Data
Page 21 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

Determining how well various training alternatives assist dislocated

workers is difficult, due to the lack of outcome data on wages and

reemployment. Although the Labor Department instituted a system to

measure performance in fiscal year 1999, the level of responses from

workers who have left the TAA and NAFTA-TAA programs has been low.

To address the low response rate, the Labor Department changed its

reporting system in fiscal year 2001, requiring all states to match data on

dislocated workers with state wage records to determine whether

dislocated workers have reentered employment and at what wage.

El Paso, Tex., faced a particular challenge in providing trade adjustment

assistance training benefits to dislocated workers because of the large

numbers involved. In 1994, nearly half of El Paso’s 50,000 manufacturing

jobs were in the apparel and textile industry. According to Texas

Workforce Commission data, from January 1994 to February 2001, a total

of 17,069 workers in El Paso were certified by the Labor Department for

the TAA or NAFTA-TAA programs, with the majority of these jobs in the

apparel and textile industry. Trade adjustment assistance program

administrators in El Paso said that the sheer number of dislocated workers

overwhelmed the system. In addition to the other types of assistance

provided, about half of these workers enrolled in training during fiscal

years 1995 through 2000. There were not enough case managers to handle

the inflow, which averaged 475 cases per case manager in fiscal year 1998

and 325 in fiscal year 1999. All the dislocated workers we interviewed in El

Paso were critical of the service they received, saying they were given

inconsistent information, little respect by case managers, and no

vocational counseling. El Paso’s training providers did not have enough

seats for all the dislocated workers at the peak of the layoffs, according to

an El Paso Community College official, and the college was not prepared

for the bilingual training most workers required. These dislocated workers

eventually ran out of trade adjustment benefits but were no more

employable than they had been before entering these programs, according

to local program officials.

In June 1998, the Labor Department awarded El Paso a $45 million grant to

assist 4,500 workers displaced between January 1, 1994, and December 31,

1998. This grant was used for the El Paso Proactive Reemployment Project

(PREP), which was to provide retraining, readjustment services, and

income support for workers who had not yet received occupational

training under their initial TAA and NAFTA-TAA benefits. However, some

officials said that PREP instead extended income support without

requiring sufficient accountability for their progress. The result, according

to the El Paso Community College official, was that the college was

Some Officials Saw

Supplemental Funding as

Ineffective in El Paso’s

Challenging Situation
Page 22 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

basically “warehousing dislocated workers” who needed to attend classes

to obtain income support.

Case study communities face fundamental challenges in restructuring

economies, while the available adjustment assistance is limited, targeted,

and short-term. Human capital challenges appear formidable, particularly

helping workers in their mid-40’s with a high school or less education to

find employment in the new economy. Physical infrastructure needed to

renew economic growth is a related obstacle. While each community we

visited experienced adverse economic impacts as a result of trade-related

layoffs, the severity of these impacts and the communities’ responses

varied. Martinsville, Va.; El Paso, Tex.; and Watsonville, Calif., have

embarked on economic adjustment strategies aimed at diversifying their

economies and attracting jobs to replace those that were lost.

Alternatively, in Coushatta, La., and Owosso, Mich., where most tradedisplaced workers have found similar but lower-paying jobs in the area,

community leaders have not settled on an economic adjustment strategy,

although they recognize that in the long run such strategies may be

necessary.

As the communities we visited work to recover from the trade-related job

losses they sustained, many face fundamental challenges that will make it

difficult to attract new businesses. These challenges encompass the need

to develop both their human capital and physical infrastructure in order to

complete the economic adjustment of their communities.

One challenge consistently cited by government and civic leaders in the

communities was the issue of human capital. They said that they needed to

improve local educational systems, which often had high school dropout

rates much higher than the national average. In several communities, local

leaders said that school facilities and curricula needed to be improved to

better prepare students for high-skilled jobs and to develop a more

attractive environment for companies that they would like to recruit. In

some communities, local officials said that they were caught in a difficult

situation in which local residents who graduate from college leave for

better jobs elsewhere. At the same time, they were hampered in recruiting

firms that needed a college-educated workforce, in part, because they had

low numbers of such workers in their area.

Table 3 illustrates another aspect of the human capital challenge facing

these communities. The table compares trade-dislocated workers

nationwide to the total U.S. workforce. Trade-dislocated workers include a

Adjustment

Assistance Does Not

Match Communities’

Challenges

Communities Face

Challenges to Economic

Growth

Communities Have “Old

Economy” Workforce
Page 23 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

higher percentage of women, who had lower educational levels and lower

average wages in the jobs they held before dislocation. While 42 percent of

the nation’s total workforce has a high school education or less, 80 percent

of trade-dislocated workers fall into this category. Among trade-dislocated

workers, the average age was 43, and 59 percent were over the age of 40.

These data suggest, and community leaders we interviewed confirmed,

that trade-impacted workers tend to be less mobile and face difficulties

reentering a workforce that increasingly requires more skills and training.
Page 24 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

Table 3: Profile of TAA and NAFTA-TAA Participants Compared to Total U.S.

Workforce, Fiscal Years 1999-2000

Worker characteristics

Nationwide TAA and

NAFTA-TAA participants

(percent)

Total U.S. workforce

(percent)

Gender

Male

Female

36

64

53

47

Average age 43 years N/A

Limited English proficiency 12 N/A

Average old wage $12.13 per hour

(at separation)

$13.36 per hour

(current wages for production

workers)

Average new wage $10.31 Not applicable

Median tenure 7 years (at separation) 3.5 years

Education

Less than high school

High school graduate

Some post-high school

College graduate

25

55

17

4

10

32

28a

30

Legend: N/A = not available.

Note 1: TAA and NAFTA-TAA participant data based on data from 36,000 workers who left the TAA

and NAFTA-TAA program in fiscal years 1999-2000 and filled out a survey. Total U.S. workforce data

come from Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Situation Report for May 2001, except for average

wage and average tenure data, which are Bureau data for February 2000.

Note 2: Totals may not add up to 100 percent due to rounding.

a

Some post-high school for total U.S. workforce includes some college, no degree, and associate

degrees.

Sources: GAO analysis of data from Department of Labor TAA and NAFTA-TAA programs, and

Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Another challenge faced by the communities was the lack of access to

major transportation arteries and inferior transportation infrastructure.

Officials in three of the communities, Washington, Martinsville, and

Coushatta, believe that their economic growth was hampered because

their communities are not located near interstate highways. There are no

four-lane highways in Coushatta or Red River Parish. While Virginia and

North Carolina are considering interstate extensions that would run near

Martinsville and Washington, both projects are still in the early proposal

phase and, even if approved, are years away.

Local land-use policies pose additional challenges to economic

development and growth in Watsonville and Owosso. Watsonville is

surrounded by prime agricultural land, and Santa Cruz County has

Communities Face

Infrastructure and Land-Use

Challenges
Page 25 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

imposed stringent restrictions on the conversion of this land to other uses,

including manufacturing and housing. Watsonville officials said that only a

limited amount of land zoned for manufacturing is currently available in

the area. To expand its manufacturing base to provide employment

opportunities for displaced workers, Watsonville officials believe the

community must annex agricultural land, which local officials said is

rarely approved. Owosso also has limited land available for new industries

within its city limits. Independently governed townships, comprised of

residential neighborhoods that surround the city, want to limit industrial

expansion. Owosso officials said that there has been limited collaboration

on economic development among area jurisdictions. Recently, however, a

local development corporation has initiated an effort to promote

cooperation among business and civic leaders in Owosso and surrounding

areas.

These communities are struggling with difficult choices needed to rebuild

their economic base and retool to better compete in the national and

global economies. Watsonville, Martinsville, and El Paso have what could

be termed “middle path” strategies that aim for economic diversification

while preparing their workforce for the high-skilled, well-paying jobs that

they hope to attract. However, these communities realize that they still

need jobs suitable for low-skilled displaced workers who will not qualify

for new economy jobs. The other three communities have yet to come to

grips with which economic adjustment course to pursue.

El Paso received a $275,000 EDA grant to develop an economic adjustment

strategic plan, which was adopted by the city in December 1999. The

strategy encompasses a 10-year horizon and is linked to three principles:

the value of human capital, access to Mexican and Latin American

markets, and the radical transformation of the economy through

technology. El Paso’s strategic plan recommends following a middle path

between recruiting lower-wage industries to employ displaced workers

and recruiting those that offer higher-wage employment. The plan’s

authors argue that recruiting only lower-wage industries that could employ

the current group of displaced workers would expose the city to

companies concerned entirely with low-cost labor and risk further

business closures if they relocate to Mexico. On the other hand, offering

incentives only to higher-wage industries would create few opportunities

for currently displaced workers and further strain the community’s social

infrastructure. The strategy emphasizes the importance of making

workforce development programs employer-driven and linking these

efforts to businesses.

Communities Have

Differing Economic

Adjustment Strategies

El Paso, TX
Page 26 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

In Martinsville/Henry County, the Patrick Henry Development Council,

which is the local economic planning board, received a $350,000 grant in

2001 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to

develop an economic development strategy. The strategy seeks to diversify

the area’s economic base by recruiting both high-paying technology and

heavy manufacturing companies. The strategy also focuses on human

capital, and the council contracted for a worker profile survey to

determine what skills the local workforce needs to develop to attract highpaying companies and to assess the local educational system’s ability to

produce that workforce. Martinsville/Henry County is also part of an EDAdesignated Economic Development District and received a $60,000 grant in

2000 to prepare a regional strategy that focuses on mitigating adverse

trade impacts. Both strategies propose and prioritize projects, such as

industrial parks and business incubators, qualifying for state and federal

assistance.

Watsonville officials concluded that efforts to train many dislocated food

processing workers have resulted in limited success. Their economic

adjustment strategy thus has two goals: (1) to attract labor-intensive

manufacturing jobs for which these displaced workers can qualify and (2)

to improve job opportunities for the city’s youth by providing training in

computer and other skills required by high-wage employers.20 In addition,

the county and community college are collaborating on a project to

support the creation and retention of quality jobs. There is also a business

incubator to facilitate new business start-ups.

Owosso city officials have done little economic adjustment planning,

although local business leaders have taken steps to attract new jobs.

Because of Owosso’s proximity to the industrial centers of Lansing and

Flint, where automotive industry jobs are available, the city has not

developed an economic adjustment strategy. However, the private sector

in the Owosso area has taken some steps to address job loss. Business and

community leaders have begun work on a plan that looks to the area’s

future economic development, part of which is to develop an industrial

park.

Coushatta and Washington have taken some action to improve their local

economies. Coushatta officials said that the town, which has only 2,299

residents, has limited resources for development, and has not developed a

 20The “high-tech” Silicon Valley area is about an hour’s drive from Watsonville.

Martinsville/Henry County, VA

Watsonville, CA

Owosso, MI

Coushatta, LA and Washington,

NC
Page 27 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

comprehensive economic plan. The town, however, has spent $1 million to

renovate the city-owned Sunbeam building and leased it to a pillow and

mattress manufacturer that employs about 200 workers, including many

former Sunbeam employees. The town has also contracted with a

consultant to help attract new companies. In Washington, local officials

said the Beaufort County Planning Commission would begin developing an

economic adjustment strategy when it filled its Executive Director

position. In the meantime, the Commission is considering acquiring a

building to serve as a business incubator.

Officials from the communities we visited generally reported that they had

received modest assistance from federal and state governments, mostly

federal loan guarantees. Table 4 shows that a total of $59.5 million in

economic adjustment funding was received by the communities from

federal assistance programs from fiscal year 1995 to the present.

Reflecting the varied sizes of the communities and the impacts they

experienced, this assistance ranged from $413,000 to Coushatta, La., to

$44.5 million for El Paso, Tex. In addition, the largest source of

adjustment funding for these communities—$42.3 million—was provided

by Community Adjustment and Investment Program (CAIP) guaranteed

business loans, most of which were made in El Paso ($38.7 million).21 The

second largest source of funding was from EDA, which provided $10.5

million to the communities.

 21As noted earlier in this report, CAIP makes loans, loan guarantees, and grants available to

trade-impacted communities.

Assistance Available for

Communities’ Economic

Adjustment Efforts
Page 28 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

Table 4: Federal Economic Adjustment Assistance to Case Study Communities, Fiscal Year 1995-Early Fiscal Year 2001

Dollars in thousands

Source of assistance

Watsonville,

CA

Coushatta,

LA

Washington/

Chocowinity, NC

Owosso,

MI

El Paso,

 TX

Martinsville/

Henry

County,

VA Total

CAIP loan guarantees $2,598 $413a $0 $0 $38,693 $600 $42,304

CAIP direct loans 0 0 0 0 1,180 0 1,180

CAIP grants 0 0 0 0 900 0 900

Economic Development

Administration

6,050 0 0 0 2,975 1,460 10,485

Other federal economic

adjustment assistance

500 0 0 3,000 750 450 4,700

Total $9,148 $413 $0 $3,000 $44,498 $2,510 $59,569

Note: This table does not include all federal economic assistance funds. It includes only those funds

linked to trade-related job losses and plant closures. The Trade Adjustment Assistance for Firms

Program is not included because none of the case study communities received funds from the

program.

a

CAIP guaranteed loan funds listed for Coushatta were used in a neighboring community impacted by

Coushatta’s trade-related layoffs.

Sources: CAIP, EDA, and case study community officials.

Each community received some economic development assistance from

its state government. The most common forms of state assistance were

business tax abatements and refunds available to new and expanding

businesses in economically distressed areas. A Martinsville city official

said that, since 1996, when the city was designated a State Enterprise

Zone, all businesses that located or expanded in the city have taken

advantage of these incentives. Some communities also received state

economic development grants and loans. In Coushatta, the Louisiana State

government helped fund improvements to the former Sunbeam building to

make it more attractive to potential manufacturing tenants. Likewise in

Martinsville, after the Tultex closure in 1999, the state of Virginia loaned

the city $945,000 to construct a shell building22 in its industrial park and

provided a $250,000 grant to convert Tultex’s former headquarters building

into a business incubator.

 22A shell building is a structure equipped with basic utilities that can be leased to a

business.

Limited Assistance Provided by

State Governments
Page 29 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

The communities received limited assistance from the two federal

programs designed to mitigate the adverse economic impacts of

tradethe Trade Adjustment Assistance program for firms and CAIP. The

program for firms provides consulting services to trade-impacted firms to

make them more competitive. According to Department of Commerce

records, only one firm in the six communities, an El Paso wood cabinet

company, received assistance from the program. While the program

helped the company to develop an adjustment plan, the company did not

implement it and did not receive funding, according to program records.

Three of our case study communities received assistance from CAIP. Since

1997, businesses in El Paso have applied for and received about $38.7

million23 in guaranteed CAIP loans, more than any other community in the

country.24 CAIP has also made two direct loans in El Paso, one in May

1999, for $1 million to the El Paso Workforce Collaborative to renovate a

former Levi-Strauss factory to be used as a Workforce Development

Center and a Business Resource Center. The second loan was made in

March 2001, for $180,000 to La Mujer Obrera, an advocacy group for

dislocated women workers, for equipment and working capital for a

restaurant that is also a training facility. El Paso also received two CAIP

grants of $450,000 aimed at improving workers’ skills, one to a plastic

injection molding training and contract center, and the second to retrain

workers for health field jobs. In Watsonville, CAIP has guaranteed three

loans totaling $2.6 million for plant nursery businesses. A business in

Martinsville obtained two CAIP guaranteed loans totaling $600,000. Near

Coushatta, a portable building business received a CAIP guarantee for a

$413,000 loan. Owosso was ineligible for the CAIP program because of its

low unemployment rate, and while Washington was eligible, no businesses

there received CAIP-guaranteed loans. Officials in most communities we

visited said that CAIP assistance is not sufficient to spur economic

recovery. We noted in our recent report25 that CAIP adds marginal benefits

to trade-impacted communities because it guarantees loans that would

 23This amount was as of May 29, 2001.

24In El Paso, most of the participating small business lenders and borrowers we talked to

during our evaluation of CAIP in 2000 said that the program had been valuable in paying

the guarantee fee for small business loans, thus freeing up needed operating capital.

25See Trade Adjustment Assistance: Opportunities to Improve the Community

Adjustment and Investment Program (GAO/NSIAD-00-229, Sept. 29, 2000), p. 22.

Federal Trade Economic

Adjustment Assistance Mainly

Provided by CAIP
Page 30 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

likely have been made under existing Small Business Administration

programs.26

Other federal programs, although not targeted specifically at tradeimpacted communities, offer assistance to economically distressed areas.

For example, EDA provides grants to communities in economic decline to

upgrade or expand their economic infrastructure and to design and

implement economic adjustment strategies. Most of our case study

communities received some economic adjustment assistance from EDA

and other federal agencies, but community leaders believed more was

needed.

In Martinsville/Henry County, a team of federal officials from several

agencies, working under the coordination of the President’s National

Economic Council, went there after the Tultex bankruptcy in December

1999 to explain the federal assistance available and to assist the

communities in filing grant applications. In 2000, the community was

awarded about $800,000 in EDA and Department of Agriculture grants for

a business incubator. In 2001, a $840,000 EDA grant for a water line for a

new plant was approved. In addition, the West Piedmont Planning District

received a $60,000 EDA grant to prepare its economic adjustment strategy.

Regarding El Paso, the city was awarded about $2.6 million in EDA

economic adjustment assistance during the period 1995 to present. This

amount included a $1.4 million grant to aid in converting the former LeviStrauss plant and a $1.2 million grant to La Mujer Obrera, an advocacy

group for dislocated women workers.

Watsonville and El Paso, cities that historically have had high percentages

of low-income residents, have had sections declared federal Enterprise

Communities on the basis of their high poverty rates and low per capita

income levels. Enterprise Communities received $3 million in block grants

through this program, which is administered by the Departments of

Agriculture or Housing and Urban Development. Businesses in these

communities are eligible for tax-exempt bond financing to build or expand

facilities. Enterprise Communities’ applications for other competitive

 26CAIP guarantees loans in partnership with the Small Business Administration and the

Department of Agriculture. CAIP loans differ from conventional small business loans

offered by these agencies because CAIP pays the loan guarantee fee. Many small

businesses in the case study communities probably qualify for conventional small business

loans. We did not determine how many of these loans were made in the communities.

Some Assistance Available

From Other Federal Programs

Enterprise Community and

Empowerment Zone Funding

Also Used
Page 31 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

federal economic and community development grants are given special

rankings by the agencies that administer the grants. Watsonville, which

was designated an Enterprise Community in 1995, devoted much of its

grant, provided by the Department of Agriculture, to fund youth training

programs. It has used other federal grants and loans to finance a

downtown business incubator, two motels, and the expansion of a

community college branch campus. El Paso, which also received its

Enterprise Community designation in 1995, is using its funds for human

capital efforts such as job training and has offered tax-exempt bond

financing as an incentive to attract and encourage business expansion.

El Paso was also designated an Empowerment Zone by the Department of

Housing and Urban Development in 1999, based on criteria similar to

those used by the Enterprise Community program. As an Empowerment

Zone, the city thus far has received $19 million. The funds are being used

to promote projects similar to those under the Enterprise Community

program.

Officials in the communities believe that they are limited in their ability to

obtain federal economic adjustment assistance and cite a number of

reasons. Some officials said that, without a central source of information

on available economic adjustment programs, they are not always aware of

those for which their communities might qualify. For example, officials at

the West Piedmont Planning District, which includes Martinsville, said

they are familiar with EDA and Department of Agriculture Rural

Development programs but have limited knowledge of other federal

programs. Officials also cited the lack of financial resources to meet the

federal grant matching requirements. El Paso officials said they primarily

have sought assistance from programs with no or low matching

requirements. Some officials described the grant application process as

time-consuming, technical, and expensive. Officials in Owosso, Coushatta,

and Washington said that their communities lacked the personnel and

expertise necessary to secure federal grants. Local officials believe that

the scope of programs targeted at trade-impacted areas is too limited to

make a difference in their communities.

Local Views on Trade-Impacted

Communities’ Access to

Federal Funds
Page 32 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

The six case study communities in our study pose a particularly severe test

for the trade adjustment assistance programs since we used criteria that

were designed to identify hard hit communities. As a result, these

experiences may not be typical of communities affected by trade-related

layoffs. Nevertheless, the lessons learned by these communities may be

applicable to other hard hit communities, as well as to other communities

where the impact of trade-related layoffs was not so severe. These lessons

may also be relevant for communities where technology or other forces

have led to significant job losses.

These communities face long-term challenges in improving job skills and

human capital of dislocated workers and developing physical

infrastructure needed to attract new businesses. Those involved in worker

adjustment assistance programs in the communities pointed to the need

for more flexible training programs linked to the employment needs of

local businesses. Community leaders working at economic adjustment

efforts had a harder time drawing lessons from their experiences and have

faced difficult choices and found few off-the-shelf answers. One of the

fundamental challenges facing trade-impacted communities is helping

dislocated workers—generally older workers with a high school degree or

less—adjust to an increasingly globalized economy that requires different

skills than were needed when these individuals entered the workforce.

Trade adjustment assistance program administrators and training

providers in the communities said that program rules regarding income

support benefits limit their flexibility in addressing dislocated workers’

training needs. Although administrators believed that limiting income

support to 18 months presented financial hardships that discouraged

workers from completing 2-year training programs, available data indicate

that most workers leave training after 1 year. However, even if these

programs were more flexible, these relatively short-term training programs

may not bridge the gap between these workers’ current skills and the skills

they need to enter the new economy workforce. Our discussions with

training providers and workers indicated that enormous sacrifices are

necessary for dislocated workers — many of whom have been out of

school for 20 years or more — to be successful in an educational system

that has become significantly more challenging while maintaining family

and other responsibilities.

Still, additional funding does not mean that these challenges are easily

addressed, as indicated by El Paso’s experience with a $45 million

supplemental grant from the Department of Labor. Local officials learned

that the necessary training infrastructure must be in place to meet

dislocated workers’ needs. According to community leaders, supplemental

Lessons Learned

From Trade-Impacted

Communities’

Experiences
Page 33 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

grant funds were used to place many workers in training programs that

had not been evaluated. Further, insufficient bilingual training designed

for adults was available. With no clear sense that training would improve

their job prospects, some workers stayed in training to continue receiving

income support benefits. Eventually, grant managers began offering

workers monetary incentives to leave training and take available lowskilled jobs.

One of the lessons that emerged from our discussions is the central role of

education and training, which included training to provide basic language

skills to laid off workers, strengthening the links between business and

educational institutions, or emphasizing education for the next generation

of workers. In Martinsville, the local planning authority, in conjunction

with businesses, has contracted for a workforce survey that will identify

the human capital needed to attract and retain businesses. The survey

results will serve as the basis for developing training courses at the local

community college. In Owosso, the local training provider, a private

college, has local business leaders sit on an advisory board to ensure that

the college’s curriculum includes needed job skills training. In El Paso, a

training provider that specializes in training displaced workers has worked

with local businesses to develop an internship program to give students

work experience. Such efforts to define local needs, establish priorities,

and link education and training with jobs is a common theme among our

trade-impacted communities.27

Finally, one of the lessons that appeared in our discussions with many

community leaders was that helping the dislocated workers is the

immediate challenge but does not lead to—and may even detract from—

the efforts to address the longer-term structural problems. Watsonville,

Martinsville, and El Paso appear to have chosen the path of economic

diversification and are emphasizing the importance of education for the

generations now entering the workforce, since it is often much easier for

them to acquire the skills that are necessary for higher-paying jobs in the

new economy. However, leaders in these communities acknowledge that

 27Guidelines to assist communities adjust to changing economic conditions have been

prepared by the Departments of Labor and Defense, and provide a framework for

developing a strategic plan. See Conducting a Community Audit: Assessing the Workforce

Development Needs and Resources of Your Community. Office of Adult Services,

Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 2000, and Workforce

Adjustment Strategies: Coping with the Human Aspects of Base Closure and Defense

Industry Downsizing. Office of Economic Adjustment, U.S. Department of Defense, 1996.
Page 34 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

they also need jobs suitable for low-skilled displaced workers who will not

qualify for new economy jobs. Balancing these competing demands will

determine how successfully these communities will adjust to changing

national and global economic conditions.

We received written comments on a draft report from the Departments of

Commerce and the Treasury. The Department of Commerce said that the

report fairly and accurately describes EDA assistance programs. The

Department of the Treasury said that the report makes an important

contribution to understanding the issues that a community faces when an

abrupt change takes place in its economy as a result of job dislocations

attributable to changing trade patterns. The comments we received and

our evaluation of them are contained in appendixes VIII and IX. In

addition, the Department of Labor provided technical comments, which

we incorporated in the report as appropriate.

The Department of Commerce said that our characterization of the

difficulties of Martinsville, Virginia in obtaining economic adjustment

assistance did not fully reflect EDA’s eligibility or competitive selection

criteria for its Public Works and Economic Adjustment programs. We

have revised the report to reflect EDA’s clarifications.

The Department of the Treasury, while not disagreeing with our

characterization of CAIP funding as limited, stated that more CAIP

financing for communities was available if the communities requested it.

We clarified the report by stating that businesses and potential grantees

must apply for CAIP financing. CAIP does not provide funding directly to

eligible counties, but rather offers access to competitively awarded grants

or enhanced access to credit through loans and loan guarantees. The

Treasury also disagreed with our statement that CAIP loan guarantees

made in partnership with the Small Business Administration would likely

have been made anyway without CAIP’s participation. We based these

statements on our recent evaluation of CAIP. Our position, which remains

unchanged, is that outcome measures and a monitoring system are needed

to demonstrate the benefits CAIP has brought to communities.

We are sending copies of this report to appropriate congressional

committees. We are also sending copies of this report to the Secretary of

Commerce; the Secretary of Labor; and the Secretary of the Treasury.

Copies also will be made available to others upon request.

Agency Comments

and Our Evaluation
Page 35 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

If you or your staff have any questions about this report, please contact me

on (202) 512-4128. Additional contacts and staff acknowledgments are

listed in appendix X.

Loren Yager

Director,

International Affairs and Trade

Sigurd Nilsen

Director,

Education, Workforce and Income Security
Appendix I: Watsonville, California, Case

Study Profile

Page 36 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

Located in the center of the El Parajo Valley, in Santa Cruz County,

Watsonville is on the central California coast, 48 miles from San Josè.

Latinos comprise 75 percent of the population, most of whom are recent

immigrants who came to work in the area’s agricultural sector. The second

largest city in the county, Watsonville has an unemployment rate that is

twice that of the county. Table 5 provides more details on the community’s

characteristics.

Table 5: Profile of Watsonville, CA

Community characteristics

Population, as of 2000 44,265

Population, percentage change, from 1990 to 2000 42%

High school graduates, persons 25 years and over, 1990 54%

College graduates, persons 25 years and over, 1990 11%

Median household income, 1997 estimate $44,607a

Persons below poverty, percentage, 1997 estimate 13%

Unemployment rate, 2000 annual average 12%

Major employment sectors Farming

Percent of population employed in manufacturing, 1997 estimate 11%

a

Data for 1997 are only available for Santa Cruz County. The most recent data available are for 1989

and indicate that Watsonville’s median household income is $27,980,which is 75 percent of the Santa

Cruz County 1997 median household income.

Sources: U.S. Bureau of the Census and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Watsonville’s economy has been severely impacted by increased imports

of frozen vegetables and natural disasters over the last two decades,

according to local officials. Imports of low-cost vegetables from Mexico,

Guatemala, and other countries have resulted in the reduction of

Watsonville’s frozen vegetables industry. Thus, the industry’s decline was

already well under way before the North American Free trade Agreement

(NAFTA) was enacted in 1994. According to the University of California,

Los Angeles, North American Integration and Development Center, 510

permanent and 440 seasonal processing workers lost their jobs between

1983 and 1994. This was followed in 1996 with the closure of Dean Foods

plants and the loss of 600 jobs. Natural disasters have also hurt the

community, which is still recovering from the Loma Prieta earthquake of

1989. Further, in 1995, the community experienced a major flood and

suffered agricultural losses.

The closures of the frozen vegetable plants have had a major impact on

Watsonville. Since the mid-1980s, Watsonville has lost more than 5,000

Appendix I: Watsonville, California, Case

Study Profile

Impact of TradeRelated Job Losses
Appendix I: Watsonville, California, Case

Study Profile

Page 37 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

frozen food and cannery jobs, many of which were mid-level union

positions that paid about $8 an hour and provided fringe benefits. For the

community’s many migrant farm workers, these jobs provided an

opportunity for upward mobility but were replaced with poorly paid

seasonal or part-time work. The unemployment rates in Watsonville for

the last 10 years (1990 through 1999) has been in the double digits,

averaging 16.5 percent. In 1993, the unemployment rate peaked at 20.8

percent and declined to a low of 11.9 percent in 2000, when the annual

average for the United States and Santa Cruz County was 4 percent and 5.6

percent, respectively. Nevertheless, the food processing and production

industry still remains the largest employer in the area, providing

employment for more than 18,000 workers. However, since 1994, the

number of jobs in food processing has declined at an average annual rate

of 6.8 percent. Many residents and leaders believe that unless the city can

reduce its dependence on low-skilled, low-income, seasonal jobs, the

community will see further economic decline.

Watsonville has not experienced a large, trade-related layoff of workers

since 1996, and the results of efforts to assist earlier trade-impacted

workers are limited. Several local officials said that one of the main

problems with the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program was that

the allowance of 2 years of training might not be long enough when

dealing with workers who only speak Spanish or are illiterate in their

native language. They said that considering these individuals’ remedial

education needs, it would probably take 3 to 5 years to train them for new

jobs.

For workers who had enrolled in a local training school or community

college, local officials had no data on wages earned after graduation and

did not know the number of workers who had found jobs in areas of their

training. Rather than relocate, however, most dislocated workers have

chosen to remain in the Watsonville area. Some share homes with multiple

families and have found employment in plant nurseries, farms, or small

businesses. To help reemploy these people, city officials said that they

have focused on attracting assembly jobs that are appropriate to the local

population’s skill level. They recruited a company that makes bike and

snowmobile parts, which opened in 2001.

Assistance to

Dislocated Workers
Appendix I: Watsonville, California, Case

Study Profile

Page 38 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

The city of Watsonville has received a wide range of federal, state, and

county economic adjustment assistance to help implement its strategic

plan. Federal agencies have worked to deliver a variety of assistance to

Watsonville. The Department of Agriculture has assisted the city with

loans and grants through local partnerships with financial organizations

and local economic organizations. It has also provided loans for several

business projects, such as the Red Roof Inn and Holiday Inn Express

hotels, a small business incubator building with office and retail space

(see fig. 3), and a warehouse facility. The city was also awarded almost

$200,000 from the Department of Agriculture and $500,000 from the

Department of Health and Human Services to help the El Pajaro

Community Development Corporation with development of the business

incubator building. The El Pajaro Development Corporation is one of

several local corporations working with federal agencies to improve

Watsonville’s economy.

Economic Adjustment

Efforts
Appendix I: Watsonville, California, Case

Study Profile

Page 39 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

Figure 3: Photos of Watsonville, CA

Source: City of Watsonville.
Appendix I: Watsonville, California, Case

Study Profile

Page 40 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

Watsonville was included in the first round of cities the Department of

Agriculture designated as Federal Enterprise Communities in January

1995. This designation will result in about $3 million in federal grant funds

over the next 10 years and will improve the city’s ability to qualify for

additional federal program funds. In its Enterprise Community application,

Watsonville officials listed unemployment and the school dropout rate as

their most severe community problems. Local officials also acknowledged

that most training efforts are targeted at the younger population,

conceding that they have largely given up on training older workers now

unable to work in the local agricultural industry, primarily with strawberry

production.

Watsonville also has participated in the Community Adjustment and

Investment Program (CAIP). Under this program, Watsonville received

about an additional $2.6 million in guaranteed loans in fiscal years 1998

through 2000 to support several plant nursery business projects.

Watsonville has also received more than $6 million in grants from the

Economic Development Administration’s (EDA) Public Works and

Economic Development Program. The funds can be used to support (1)

new building construction, (2) business incubators, (3) industrial parks,

(4) roads and streets, and (5) water and sewer systems. Watsonville

applied for the EDA program under the Santa Cruz County Economic

Adjustment Strategy plan. The projects are funded with federal, state, and

local agency funds. Some of the projects EDA has approved include a new

Cabrillo College satellite campus (see fig. 3), a youth training center, and a

parking garage in a downtown commercial building.

Watsonville’s designation as one of 39 state Enterprise Zones located

throughout California went into effect in 1997 and will be active until 2012.

As a state Enterprise Zone, the city’s industrial area will receive a wide

array of incentives to retain, expand, and attract businesses, to diversify

the community’s economic base.

However, local land use decisions are frequently contentious and

sometimes challenged by farmers and environmental groups in the area.

According to Watsonville officials, Santa Cruz County has an ordinance

prohibiting the conversion of agricultural land to industrial uses or

housing developments. The county ordinance is used to encourage new

development efforts to locate in urban areas to protect agricultural land

and natural resources in the rural areas. Also, environmental groups are

against the development of the area because of the potential effects on the

Monterey Peninsula and Bay.
Appendix II: Coushatta, Louisiana, Case

Study Profile

Page 41 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

The town of Coushatta in Red River Parish in northwest Louisiana is

approximately 50 miles southwest of Shreveport (parishes are comparable

to counties). Red River Parish has a small industrial base and no multilane

highways or public port facilities. Table 6 presents a demographic and

economic profile of Coushatta.

Table 6: Profile of Coushatta, LA

Community characteristics

Population, as of 2000 2,299

Population, percentage change, from 1990 to 2000 26.6%

High school graduates, persons 25 years and over, 1990 51.7%

College graduates, persons 25 years and over, 1990 9.3%

Median household income, 1997 estimate $21,928a

Persons below poverty, percentage, 1997 estimate 26.0%a

Unemployment rate, 2000 annual average 9.1%

Major employment sectors N/A

Percentage of employees in manufacturing, 1997 estimate N/A

Legend: N/A = Not available

a

Data for 1997 are only available for Red River Parish. The most recent available data are for 1989

and indicate that Coushatta’s median household income was $12,756 and that 42.3 percent of

residents are below poverty level.

Sources: U.S. Bureau of the Census and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

In late 1996, the Sunbeam-Oster Corporation, a manufacturer of small

appliances such as toasters and irons, announced the closure of its

Coushatta, Louisiana, plant after 31 years of operation (see figure 4). The

closure, effective December 31, 1996, was part of a nationwide downsizing

by Sunbeam that cut more than 6,000 jobs due to increased imports. With

the closure of the Sunbeam plant, a major employer in Coushatta, the

unemployment rate for Red River Parish rose to 23.7 percent in 1997. A

total of approximately 520 workers lost their jobs, many with more than 20

years of service. According to local officials, most workers affected by the

closure were white, female, and approximately 40 years of age. The

closure of the Sunbeam plant also meant the loss of a $10 million annual

payroll, a decrease by one fifth of Red River Parish’s gross income, and the

erosion of its tax base. Coushatta’s unemployment rate was 9.1 percent in

2000.

Appendix II: Coushatta, Louisiana, Case

Study Profile

Impact of TradeRelated Job Losses
Appendix II: Coushatta, Louisiana, Case

Study Profile

Page 42 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

Figure 4: Photos of Coushatta, LA, and a Training Facility in a Neighboring Community

Source: GAO.

The workers who were laid off from the Sunbeam plant received a

severance package and health insurance coverage for 26 weeks. Some

dislocated workers have since reentered the workforce and are employed

at the same wage or higher. Some found jobs in the service sector,

Assistance to

Dislocated Workers
Appendix II: Coushatta, Louisiana, Case

Study Profile

Page 43 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

including retail stores or restaurants, while others found jobs in

manufacturing plants in nearby towns. For instance, soon after Sunbeam

closed, another company opened a plant in a nearby town hired 80

dislocated workers. Company officials said that more dislocated workers

would have been hired if they had applied. Because the company requires

a high school diploma or General Equivalency Degree (GED), it offers a

computer-based training program to aid interested applicants in preparing

for the GED and other training geared at third grade through the first year

of college. Company officials said they have a strong incentive to train

workers well. Local officials also said that the local education system is

very poor, so some companies prefer to conduct on-the-job training for

workers. As noted in table 6, in 1990, about 52 percent of people 25 years

and over had graduated from high school.

The TAA and NAFTA-TAA programs made one-on-one vocational

counseling and career assessments available to participants by the TAA

and NAFTA-TAA programs. After the Sunbeam plant closure, about 130

workers attended various classroom training programs during 1996 to

1997. Eleven of the former Sunbeam workers began on-the-job training,

and 54 received Certificates of Continuing Eligibility forms, which can be

redeemed for training for 2 years. The local training provider is a state

technical college that provides vocational training in certificate and

diploma programs and offers an associate degree program. Local program

administrators told us that there is a clear trend that dislocated workers

will drop out of training as soon as they can find a job rather than waiting

to complete training at this school, which they said is not well regarded

and has a low job placement rate. Another training provider, a private

institute, located more than 50 miles from the impacted community, also

trained some of the dislocated workers (see fig. 4). This school offered

training in tractor-trailer driving and clerical skills and reported a 96-

percent job placement rate. School officials attribute their success to the

students’ commitment, stating that dislocated workers who commute to

attend the institute are serious about wanting to be reemployed.

After June 1997, active enrollment in training programs declined because

those who had completed their training programs had found employment.

Enrollment continued to fluctuate as more of the Sunbeam workers’

income support benefits ended. Some dislocated workers interested in onthe-job training were referred to companies that had active on-the-job

training contracts. According to officials, most of the Sunbeam workforce

requested referrals to a new company that opened in Natchitoches in early

1997.
Appendix II: Coushatta, Louisiana, Case

Study Profile

Page 44 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

Economic and community development needs in Coushatta are met by the

Coordinating and Development Corporation, a nonprofit entity that

provides specialized services to northwest Louisiana’s parishes,

municipalities, other industrial and economic development groups, and

public organizations. The Coordinating and Development Corporation also

provides assistance to individuals, especially dislocated workers. It

conducted local workshops on job relocation, job skills, interviews, and

resumes with the Louisiana Department of Labor. The corporation invited

various training vendors to participate by presenting programs on the

training options available to displaced workers. These programs were held

throughout December 1996 and continued as needed over the next year.

When the Sunbeam closure occurred, the Coordinating and Development

Corporation provided emergency assistance by setting up an office for 2

years in the Coushatta courthouse, because its closest permanent office

was 35 miles away.

Coushatta does not have its own comprehensive economic development

plan but is included in the Red River Parish plan. Although no single

organization focuses on economic development in Coushatta, numerous

officials and entities are involved in economic development efforts. For

example, the Coordinating and Development Corporation prepared a

needs assessment for northwest Louisiana for the year 2000 that identified

barriers to economic development for each parish. Some new plants in the

vicinity need water and sewer lines extended or expanded. In addition,

following the Sunbeam plant closure in Coushatta, Louisiana Tech

University prepared an estimated impact analysis for the corporation as a

public service. The report estimated the probable economic impact of the

plant’s closure on the economies of northwest Louisiana at almost $30

million. It said that Red River Parish will bear over $16 million of the

burden and will likely lose 35 “secondary” sector jobs, 175 trade and

service sector jobs, and 81 government sector jobs.

The Sunbeam facility was owned by the town of Coushatta and leased to

Sunbeam. When the plant closed in 1996, the town took the building back

and maintained it until another business was brought in to take over the

facility. In 1999, a mattress and pillow factory opened at the Sunbeam site.

Economic development officials and the Mayor were instrumental in

getting the factory to locate in Coushatta. The company now employs

approximately 200 workers from the Coushatta area.

Many communities within Red River Parish—including Coushatta—are

located within the state’s Enterprise Zones, which provide economic

Economic Adjustment

Efforts
Appendix II: Coushatta, Louisiana, Case

Study Profile

Page 45 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

incentives to businesses that locate there, including tax credits and sales

and use tax rebates to businesses hiring at least 35 percent of their new

employees from targeted groups. In addition, a $2,500 tax credit is

generated for each new job created. An additional $2,500 tax credit may be

generated in the second year of employment, if the new employee is

certified as removed from state financial assistance rolls.
Appendix III: Owosso, Michigan, Case Study

Profile

Page 46 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

Owosso is located in Shiawassee County between two major cities,

Lansing and Flint, and near major interstate highways connecting Canada

to Mexico. About 20 percent of Owosso’s workforce works in

manufacturing. Service sector growth has been concentrated in lowerpaying jobs, particularly the retail sector, the second lowest paying sector

in the state. Table 7 provides a profile of Owosso.

Table 7: Profile of Owosso, MI

Community characteristics

Population, as of 2000 15,713

Population, percentage change, from 1990 to 2000 -3.7%

High school graduates, persons 25 years and over, 1990 75.5%

College graduates, persons 25 years and over, 1990 11.3%

Median household income, 1997 estimate $38,430a

Persons below poverty, percentage 1997 estimate 10.1%a

Unemployment rate, 2000 annual average 4.1%a

Major employment sectors Manufacturing, servicesa

Percentage of employment in manufacturing 20%a

a

Shiawassee County.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Owosso lost several automobile parts manufacturers to Mexico in the mid1990s. A total of 583 workers lost their jobs and were certified for TAA

benefits. The owner of an airbag and seatcover manufacturing company

closed his Owosso plant and laid off 362 workers because his firm was

unable to compete with Mexican competitors. He also closed other

manufacturing facilities in Michigan, laying off a total of 2,000 workers. He

believed that NAFTA-related trade was a contributing factor to the

closures.

Civic and business leaders we interviewed said that the jobs lost did not

have a major impact on Owosso’s economy because the jobs lost were

replaced by retail and food service jobs. However, a civic leader we spoke

to was concerned with the decline in wage rates in Owosso. For example,

according to this official, someone who once made $12 to $14 per hour in

the automotive parts industry now may be earning $6 to $8 per hour.

People wanting better wages must commute to Lansing or Flint, Mich.

Appendix III: Owosso, Michigan, Case Study

Profile

Impact of TradeRelated Job Losses
Appendix III: Owosso, Michigan, Case Study

Profile

Page 47 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

Owosso has a satellite office of Career Alliance Inc., headquartered in

Flint, Mich., which is designated by the state of Michigan to administer the

TAA, NAFTA-TAA, and other dislocated worker programs in the area. The

state’s Rapid Response Team informs dislocated workers that Career

Alliance Inc., representatives are available to help them with job

counseling, assessment, placement, and supportive services. In addition,

Career Alliance staff visit companies where there are expected layoffs and

brief workers about the types of assistance they offer. Figure 5 provides

photos of downtown Owosso and the sign for the One Stop Career Center

that served the dislocated workers.

Assistance to

Dislocated Workers
Appendix III: Owosso, Michigan, Case Study

Profile

Page 48 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

Figure 5: Photos of Owosso, MI

Source: GAO.
Appendix III: Owosso, Michigan, Case Study

Profile

Page 49 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

A local, private nonprofit college in Owosso also provides training services

for the TAA and NAFTA-TAA programs. When they are notified that a

plant intends to close, college personnel go to the plant to inform the

workers about the occupational training programs they operate at the

college and help them prepare resumes and applications for

unemployment compensation. The college offers academic degree and

certificate programs. A college official told us that the college’s primary

goal is to make students employable. The college has an advisory board

comprised of business leaders who help the college determine the training

individuals need to obtain employment in the area. According to college

officials, they place 100 percent of their students in jobs when they

graduate, and about 87 percent obtain jobs in the field for which they were

trained.

In addition, a trucking company in nearby Corunna operates an on-the-job

training program for the college to train dislocated workers to drive

trucks. The 26-week training course provides students with a combination

of classroom training at the college and hands-on training at the trucking

company. The company owner said that trainees who completed this

program have been successful in finding jobs.

According to an Owosso civic leader, the community is enjoying a low

unemployment rate and does not see a need to develop an economic

development or job growth plan. Moreover, there have been difficulties in

getting the local, township, and county officials together to develop joint

and comprehensive approaches to economic development. He said that

people do not organize at the local level to apply for assistance from the

state and federal governments. In addition, there is no one entity at the

local level that identifies and seeks out financial assistance. An Owosso

business leader told us that about 3 years ago, several business and

government leaders joined together to plan and develop an industrial park

in Owosso. It has taken 3 years to bring parties from neighboring Corunna

and Owosso to the point that they can work on a project that would

benefit them all. This group will be receiving financial assistance from the

Michigan Economic Development Corporation to help fund water, sewer,

and road connections to the park.

Owosso’s community development director said that the town has taken

advantage of federal and state grants and tax incentives to help stimulate

Economic Adjustment

Efforts
Appendix III: Owosso, Michigan, Case Study

Profile

Page 50 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

economic growth in the community over the last 5 years. For example,

Owosso received federal Urban Development Action Grant funds to

improve the city’s retail sector and a $3 million loan from a Department of

Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service program to build a

downtown hotel. Owosso also uses local and state tax incentives to attract

new businesses. To help promote economic development in Owosso,

companies are offered tax abatements when they locate in Owosso or

increase the number of employees they employ. They also have a tax

increment and financing program, in which the community takes certain

corporate taxes and uses them to upgrade the city’s road, sewer, and water

systems.
Appendix IV: Washington and Chocowinity,

North Carolina, Case Study Profiles

Page 51 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

The communities of Washington and Chocowinity are located on the

Pamlico River in Beaufort County in eastern North Carolina (see fig. 6).

Washington, the largest town in the county, has a population of just over

10,000. Chocowinity, its immediate neighbor, has a population of less than

1,000. The unemployment rate for Beaufort County is 7.6 percent. Between

1997 and 1999, 3,880 workers were certified by TAA or NAFTA-TAA due to

layoffs and plant closures at several companies, including Singer Furniture

in Chocowinity (see fig. 6) and Hamilton Beach/Proctor-Silex, Inc., in

Washington. About 85 percent of dislocated workers from these

companies lived in Beaufort County. Table 8 provides more details on the

community characteristics.

Table 8: Profile of Beaufort County, NC

Community characteristics

Population, as of 2000 44,958

Population, percentage change, from 1990 to 2000 6.3%

High school graduates, persons 25 years and over, 1990 65.9%

College graduates, persons 25 years and over, 1990 10.8%

Median household income, 1997 estimate $28,614

Persons below poverty, percentage, 1997 estimate 17.4%

Unemployment rate, 2000 annual average 7.6%

Major employment sectors Lumber, small electronics

Percentage of industry represented by manufacturing 30.5%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Between 1997 and 1999, Beaufort County experienced massive traderelated layoffs of workers. The closure of two manufacturing companies

resulted in the displacement of more than 1,500 workers, many of whom

were female, between 40 and 50 years of age, with minimal skills and low

educational levels. The community’s unemployment rate rose immediately

following these layoffs and has since declined. Community officials said

that many workers have obtained employment, generally at a lower wage

in service sector businesses such as retail stores or restaurants.

Economically, Beaufort County ranks lower than most North Carolina

counties, with a lower per capita income, lower educational levels, higher

unemployment, and higher poverty rates.

Appendix IV: Washington and Chocowinity,

North Carolina, Case Study Profiles

Impact of TradeRelated Job Losses
Appendix IV: Washington and Chocowinity,

North Carolina, Case Study Profiles

Page 52 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

Figure 6: Photos of Washington and Chocowinity, NC

Source: GAO.
Appendix IV: Washington and Chocowinity,

North Carolina, Case Study Profiles

Page 53 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

In the past few years, Beaufort County has experienced plant closures and

layoffs in excess of 1,500 workers. Several manufacturing companies or

their employees filed petitions with the U.S. Department of Labor and

were certified for NAFTA-TAA and TAA benefits following initial

certification by the North Carolina Department of Commerce Employment

Security Commission. Singer Furniture employees were the first to file a

TAA petition in Beaufort County. Hamilton Beach/Proctor Silex, Inc.

workers shortly followed. Once the petition was approved, dislocated

workers met with a group of community and program officials to discuss

financial assistance and employment and training options. However,

program officials in Beaufort had not dealt with the Department of Labor’s

trade adjustment assistance programs prior to these layoffs, and initially

they were unsure what benefits were available to workers or how to

administer the programs. As a result of these problems and the length of

time it takes for certification, many workers were provided benefits under

other programs such as the Workforce Investment Act dislocated workers

program.

In Beaufort County, the local one-stop service center, or JobLink Career

Center, located in Washington, provides counseling services, resume

writing, needs assessment, training, labor market information, and

employment opportunities. The JobLink Career Center houses and

coordinates services provided by numerous agencies in North Carolina.

JobLink officials strongly encourage dislocated workers to enroll in GED

programs or adult basic skills training as soon as possible.

Officials stated that approximately 22 percent of dislocated workers enroll

in training; however, little data are available on the number of individuals

that complete training. Officials estimated that only about 25 percent of

the dislocated workers that enter GED programs ever continue further.

One reason for this high dropout rate is that the local community college

requires students to obtain their GED before entering any other type of

training at the college. However, Beaufort County Community College

does provide GED training and adult basic skills training free of charge

prior to entering certificate or associate degree programs. Another reason

for the high dropout rate is that income support benefit payments do not

coincide with the period allowed for training, and dislocated workers drop

out of training as soon as their income support benefits are exhausted.

Numerous officials in Beaufort County stated that a major problem with

TAA and NAFTA-TAA is that the program allows for 104 weeks of training,

but financial benefits are provided for only 78 weeks. They said that this

situation contributes significantly to dislocated workers dropping out of

training before completing the course.

Assistance to

Dislocated Workers
Appendix IV: Washington and Chocowinity,

North Carolina, Case Study Profiles

Page 54 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

Officials said that they strive to train dislocated workers for new

occupations because, in their view, dislocated workers are no better off

taking another job in industries threatened by increased trade, like

textiles. However, opportunities to train for new occupations are limited

because the community does not have any private training institutes, and

Beaufort County Community College is the only training facility within a

reasonable commute for county residents. The community college has

developed courses to meet the needs of the dislocated workers for training

to enter other occupations. However, many of the programs offered are for

college students earning associate degrees and are semester based. In

addition, an estimated 25 percent of the dislocated workers from Hamilton

Beach/Proctor-Silex, Inc., and more than 50 percent of the dislocated

workers from Singer Furniture did not have high school degrees or GEDs;

however, many of these individuals were reemployed immediately

following the layoff at very low-paying, low-skilled jobs, according to local

officials.

Economic development is the most important issue for Beaufort County,

according to county economic development officials, because the

industrial base is changing. Community officials recognize the need to

bring in other types of industries, since much of their business has been

manufacturing. This is shifting due to changes in the global economy. Yet,

the area has few economic development efforts currently under way.

However, the county has recently created the Beaufort County Economic

Development Commission to begin addressing emerging needs. The

commission does not yet have a strategic plan.

Beaufort County has received state Industrial Recruitment Competition

Funds, which are designed to provide incentives for companies to locate

in economically distressed areas. Specifically, four companies in the

county received a total of $400,000 in commitments that provided $1,000

for each job created.

Beaufort County did not apply for any Community Development Block

Grant funds over the last few years even though, as the Director of the

state Department of Commerce’s Finance Center explained, Beaufort may

have been eligible for them. He told us that these funds frequently come

with “too many strings attached,” citing the stringent requirements that

generally accompany these funds and the fact that community officials

want more flexibility than the funds offer. In addition, the Community

Development Block Grant application is about 40 pages long, is extremely

time consuming, and is difficult to prepare. Generally, small communities

Economic Adjustment

Efforts
Appendix IV: Washington and Chocowinity,

North Carolina, Case Study Profiles

Page 55 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

such as Beaufort County hire a contractor to write the grant application.

Community officials said that Beaufort County applied for but was denied

a CAIP grant. Officials also said they did not have sufficient staff resources

to adequately develop the CAIP grant proposal.

Officials stated that Beaufort County’s most pressing economic

development needs are infrastructure and natural gas. Insufficient

roadways to carry vehicles and trucks through Beaufort County, combined

with the long distance from Interstate 95, contribute greatly to the slow

economic development of Beaufort County. In addition, the county needs

to build additional gas lines for industries before they will move into the

area, according to local officials.

One avenue of potential economic development is that the community of

Washington and Chocowinity is becoming a popular area for retirees from

northern states. Officials explained that both towns are located along the

Pamlico River, which has drawn a great number of boaters. The

community has built a major retirement community with large and

expensive homes, a marina, a golf course, and a restaurant. As a result, the

community is now also building a supermarket and drugstore to meet the

needs of these new residents.
Appendix V: El Paso, Texas, Case Study

Profile

Page 56 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

Located at the western tip of Texas, El Paso borders New Mexico and the

Mexican state of Chihuahua. It is the fourth largest city in Texas (see fig.

7), with a population of 563,662, 77 percent of whom are Hispanic or

Latino. Ciudad Juarez, El Paso’s sister city across the border, has about 1.2

million in population. In 2000, their combined population was an estimated

1.9 million. Additional community characteristics are shown in table 9.

Table 9: Profile of El Paso, TX

Community characteristics

Population, as of 2000 563,662

Population, percentage change, from 1990 to 2000 9.38%

High school graduates, persons 25 years and over, 1990 65.3%

College graduates, persons 25 years and over, 1990 16.2%

Median household income, 1997 model-based estimatea$25,866

Persons below poverty, percentage, 1997 model-based

estimatea

27.8%

Unemployment rate, 2000 8.2%

Major employment sectors Manufacturing, retail

trade

a

Available data are for El Paso County.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

In 1994, nearly half of El Paso’s 50,000 manufacturing jobs were in the

apparel and textile industry. Since January 1994, 17,069 workers in El Paso

have been certified as dislocated by NAFTA, with the majority having lost

jobs in the apparel and textile industry. Jobs were also lost in other

sectors, such as electronics assembly and plastic injection molding, which,

like apparel, involved labor-intensive, low-skilled jobs. El Paso’s proximity

to Mexico further accentuated this nationwide trend. As a result, El Paso

has the unfortunate distinction of having experienced the greatest number

of NAFTA-related job losses in the United States.

While El Paso has experienced a net increase in jobs since 1994, these new

jobs have required skill levels and language abilities beyond the capacity

of most dislocated workers in El Paso, who were Hispanic, female, single

heads of household, over the age of 40, with less than a high school

education and limited English proficiency. Most had worked for years in

the apparel industry, earning relatively good wages and benefits at

companies like Levi-Strauss (see fig. 7). When their factories closed and

relocated abroad, they could not get similar jobs to replace them. At the

same time, they were not qualified for the new jobs being created in El

Appendix V: El Paso, Texas, Case Study

Profile

Impact of TradeRelated Job Losses
Appendix V: El Paso, Texas, Case Study

Profile

Page 57 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

Paso, most of which required high school or postsecondary degrees and

English proficiency. One dislocated worker told us that he had been

earning $13.65 an hour plus benefits at Levi-Strauss and it was difficult to

find another job at that pay rate with his limited education and English. In

this regard, El Paso faced its greatest challenge in assisting its dislocated

workers: it was not just a matter of training dislocated workers for new

occupational skills. Many workers first had to attain basic English

proficiency and make up for many years of missed education to earn a

GED before they could start to learn a new occupational skill.

By the end of 1996, more than 7,000 dislocated workers had filed for TAA

or NAFTA-TAA benefits. At the same time, concern was growing that

many dislocated workers who were coming to the end of their TAA or

NAFTA-TAA benefits were still trying to learn English and earn their GED

and had not received any occupational training that would help them get

another job. These concerns escalated in 1997 and 1998 as the layoffs and

plant closures continued, becoming “traumatic” as Levi-Strauss closed

four El Paso plants in 1997, displacing 1,959 workers, and another two

plants with 796 workers in 1999. At the same time, Sun Apparel, American

Garment, and other apparel firms also closed plants in El Paso. The Chief

Executive Officer of the Upper Rio Grande Workforce Development Board

said that in prior years, garment workers had always been able to get a job

in another plant. By the summer of 1998, he said that there was virtually

nowhere to go for a new apparel job.

In April 1997, the Texas Workforce Commission instituted the El Paso Reemployment Pilot Project to address the needs of massive numbers of

dislocated workers. It served 450 dislocated workers who had been

identified as needing intensive case management, job development,

bilingual vocational training, intensive work-based language training, and

needs-related payments (extended income support) as elements of a

program that would increase the likelihood of employment for these

workers. The project was designed to serve workers who had exhausted

their trade benefits but had never entered vocational skills training. It also

identified the need to bring employers into the project. However, with 72

trade-certified closings between January 1, 1994, and March 1, 1998,

affecting 8,173 workers, it soon became clear that a far larger effort than

the Texas state Pilot Project would be needed.

In March 1998, the Upper Rio Grande Workforce Development Board

submitted a grant application for a Department of Labor National Reserve

Account Grant. It was for 2-year funding in the amount of $55.5 million to

Assistance to

Dislocated Workers
Appendix V: El Paso, Texas, Case Study

Profile

Page 58 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

provide administration, retraining, readjustment, supportive services, and

needs-related payments to 3,500 eligible trade-dislocated workers in El

Paso. The El Paso Proactive Reemployment Project, as finally approved,

provided $45 million over 3 years for 4,500 dislocated workers. Workers

who had been laid off between January 1, 1994, and December 31, 1998,

and who had not yet received occupational skills training were qualified.

The other component of the community’s response to the overwhelming

numbers of dislocated workers was to develop the former Levi-Strauss

Lomaland plant as a comprehensive One-Stop Workforce Preparedness

Center and a One-Stop Capital Shop. The Greater El Paso Chamber of

Commerce took the lead in this physical infrastructure project, which had

broad community support and participation. The Chamber Foundation

purchased the facility from Levi-Strauss in 1998 and converted it into the

One-Stop Center. In addition, the Chamber also received a $1 million

direct loan from the Community Adjustment and Investment Program1

 and

a $1.4 million grant from the Economic Development Administration to

rehabilitate the building. In addition, Levi’s also gave the Chamber a

$250,000 grant to fund its Workforce Development Division, which would

oversee the implementation of the strategic plan for the center.

 1

The President of the Greater Chamber of Commerce told us that CAIP told the Chamber

that it could later request that the $1 million direct loan be converted into a grant.

Currently, the loan remains interest free as long as the Chamber continues to use the

building as a workforce development center.
Appendix V: El Paso, Texas, Case Study

Profile

Page 59 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

Figure 7: Photos of El Paso, TX

Source: GAO.

The results of the efforts in El Paso to assist the trade-dislocated workers

were mixed at best. Local officials said the trade adjustment assistance

programs were overwhelmed by the large numbers of workers that

continually entered the system. According to these officials, the Texas
Appendix V: El Paso, Texas, Case Study

Profile

Page 60 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

Workforce Commission did not have enough case managers to handle the

inflow, and when they hired new case managers, they were not

experienced enough to handle their heavy caseloads. Another problem

was that all training had to be approved by commission headquarters in

Austin, causing delays. In 1997, the commission finally delegated approval

authority to the commission’s local El Paso Trade Unit when it became

logistically impossible to refer every case to Austin for approval. El Paso’s

Trade Unit is the only one to have this approval authority, and the waiting

time for approval of training declined from 12 weeks to 4 to 6 weeks.

Commission officials said the current wait is about 3 weeks, which is due

to the funding flow. Officials said that the funding stream available to El

Paso could not keep up with their needs and that they frequently ran out

of training funds.

Perhaps the greatest criticism of assistance efforts we heard related to the

ineffectiveness of the training. According to program officials, El Paso’s

training efforts were hindered by the lack of sufficient training

infrastructure to meet the needs of its displaced workers. Many of these

workers had low educational levels and little English proficiency. They

needed bilingual training designed for adults. One private training institute

we visited, cited as a model bilingual training provider by Texas

Workforce Commission officials, used a training method of intensive

English as a Second Language classes and GED classes in Spanish in the

mornings, and occupational skills training in the afternoon. The

occupational training started out in Spanish and shifted gradually to

English as students’ proficiency increased. However, there were few such

bilingual training programs in El Paso, and many dislocated workers

languished in English as a Second Language and English-language GED

courses without making enough progress to move on to occupational

training courses, according to local program officials.

El Paso received a $275,000 grant from EDA in 1998 to have an economic

adjustment strategic plan developed by an economic consulting company.

The plan, published in December 1999, confirmed that El Paso was

following the national trend in making a transition to a service economy.

The plan focused on encouraging job growth in the near term in demandrelated industries such as retail trade, healthcare, services, and

construction, all industries that could potentially employ displaced

workers. Over the longer term, the plan focused on the need for skilled

workers and access to technology, especially information technology, as

the principal components of adding value to the city’s economy.

Economic Adjustment

Efforts
Appendix V: El Paso, Texas, Case Study

Profile

Page 61 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

The city also received other assistance from EDA. EDA had previously

awarded a grant of $500,000 for a revolving loan fund that had lain

dormant. Working together with a newly elected mayor, this grant was

reactivated, and matching funds of $167,000 were obtained from El Paso

County. The revolving loan fund has provided 6 loans to small businesses,

helping to create or retain 45 jobs, according to city economic

development officials.

The EDA grant of $1.4 million to the Greater El Paso Chamber of

Commerce Foundation to rehabilitate the former Levi-Strauss Lomaland

plant, mentioned above, was the centerpiece of its economic adjustment

assistance efforts in El Paso. The EDA Regional Director stated that this

project was a successful model of a public-private partnership that

addressed important economic adjustment needs. EDA, CAIP, the Greater

El Paso Chamber of Commerce, and Levi-Strauss all participated in this

effort.

In addition, EDA also awarded a grant of $1.2 million to a local advocacy

group for dislocated women workers, La Mujer Obrera, that had initiated

its own community development corporation, based on a community selfhelp model. The group obtained the needed matching funds from the city

of El Paso and the Rural Development Finance Corporation to acquire and

rehabilitate the building. CAIP also provided a $180,000 direct loan to this

group for equipment and working capital for a Mexican restaurant they

started in part of the building. The group also plans a business incubator, a

Mexican market, and other initiatives designed to create training

opportunities and new jobs for displaced workers. In addition, the

Hispanic Chamber of Commerce received a grant for $750,000 over 5 years

from the Small Business Administration for a Women’s Small Business

Border Center, which will be located at the group’s facility.

CAIP has been very active in El Paso. Besides the two direct loans already

mentioned, since 1997 it has provided more than $38.7 million in loan

guarantees made in El Paso through its partnership with Small Business

Administration loan guarantee programs. Of this amount, CAIP provided

145 loan guarantees with a gross loan amount of $36.6 million under the

Small Business Administration 7(a) program and 4 loan guarantees under

the Small Business Administration 504 program valued at $2.1 million.2

 El

Paso also received two CAIP grants of $450,000 for two private training

 2

Data are as of May 29, 2001.
Appendix V: El Paso, Texas, Case Study

Profile

Page 62 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

programs to train dislocated workers in locally needed occupations and

place them in private sector jobs.
Appendix VI: Martinsville and Henry County,

Virginia, Case Study Profiles

Page 63 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

The city of Martinsville, which lies in Henry County, is located in

southwestern Virginia near the North Carolina State line. In Virginia, cities

and counties are separate governmental entities. The economies of

Martinsville and Henry County are highly dependent on the manufacturing

sector, which mostly offers low-skill jobs in the textile and furniture

industries. Table 10 presents a demographic and economic profile of

Martinsville and Henry County.

Table 10: Profile of Martinsville and Henry County, VA

Community characteristics Martinsville Henry County

Population, as of 2000 15,416 57,930

Population, percentage change, from 1990 to 2000 -4.6% 1.7%

High school graduates, persons 25 years and over,

1990

62.9% 53.9%

College graduates, persons 25 years and over, 1990 15.8% 6.7%

Median household income, 1997 estimate $28,344 $30,843

Persons below poverty, percentage, 1997 estimate 17.3% 13.0%

Unemployment rate 2000 annual average 12.1% 7.4%

Major employment sector Manufacturing Manufacturing

Percentage of jobs in manufacturing 33% 62%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The manufacturing sector in Martinsville and Henry County has been in

decline in recent years due in large part to increased foreign competition,

which has resulted in a large number of job losses. Since 1993,

Martinsville and Henry County have lost more than 6,000 jobs, the majority

of which were in manufacturing. Most of these job losses were traderelated, as indicated by the fact that more than 3,500 of the laid-off

workers were certified as eligible for TAA or NAFTA-TAA benefits.

The manufacturing decline in the Martinsville and Henry County economy

culminated in December 1999 when one of the area’s largest employers,

the Tultex Corporation, unexpectedly went bankrupt and closed its

operations. Tultex, which manufactured knit goods, employed over 1,700

workers in Martinsville, all of whom lost their jobs. Most workers were

given only a few days’ notice. None of the workers received severance

packages, and most lost their health benefits. The Virginia Employment

Commission sent its Rapid Response Team to assist the Tultex workers,

making sure they were quickly enrolled for unemployment insurance and

informed of available benefits (see fig. 8).

Appendix VI: Martinsville and Henry County,

Virginia, Case Study Profiles

Impact of TradeRelated Job Losses
Appendix VI: Martinsville and Henry County,

Virginia, Case Study Profiles

Page 64 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

The Tultex and other plant closings and layoffs have had a tremendous

impact on the local economy. Unemployment in Martinsville went from

9.3 percent before the layoffs to 19.7 percent immediately afterward.

Henry County also experienced a spike in unemployment, although not as

severe as in Martinsville. In addition to massive job losses, the Tultex

closure also significantly impacted Martinsville’ s finances. For example,

according to a city official, as a result of the Tultex bankruptcy,

Martinsville lost $1.1 million in tax revenues in 1999. According to a local

real estate agent, the housing market also declined, because homeowners

have left the area for new jobs, and there are few buyers for these homes.

In addition, local community leaders said that decreased incomes have

had a negative effect on retail sales in the area. Local businesses that

supplied Tultex and other closed plants also suffered.

We found that many trade-impacted workers did not enroll in training.

According to our analysis of Virginia Employment Commission data, less

than 20 percent of workers certified for TAA and NAFTA-TAA benefits in

the Martinsville/Henry County area during 1999 and 2000 had enrolled in

training. Virginia Employment Commission officials said that some

workers decided to forgo training to search for new jobs to support their

families.

A number of trade-impacted workers who enrolled in a training program

did not complete it. Most workers took classes at Patrick Henry

Community College in Martinsville, which offers 1- and 2-year programs

(see fig. 8). According to officials at the Virginia Employment Commission

and the community college, some workers who enrolled in 2-year

programs were forced to drop out when their extended income support

benefits ended after 18 months. Other workers, many of whom had never

completed high school, were required to take remedial classes before

entering occupational training. Several of these workers could not

complete remedial classes and 1-year occupational training before their

income support benefits ran out.

Assistance to

Dislocated Workers
Appendix VI: Martinsville and Henry County,

Virginia, Case Study Profiles

Page 65 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

Figure 8: Photos of Martinsville and Henry County, VA

Source: GAO.

To give employers an incentive to hire unskilled workers eligible for trade

adjustment assistance who do not participate in classroom training, the

Virginia Employment Commission offers an on-the-job training program.
Appendix VI: Martinsville and Henry County,

Virginia, Case Study Profiles

Page 66 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

Under this program, employers are reimbursed for half of a worker’s

wages for a training period of up to 26 weeks. Employers eligible for the

program must agree to employ the worker for at least 26 weeks after the

training period has been completed. Virginia Employment Commission

officials told us that few workers have chosen such on-the-job training.

One reason they cite for low participation is that many of these positions

are in the furniture and textile industries, where long-term job security is a

concern.

Virginia Employment Commission officials and several community leaders

told us that there are few jobs in the area for workers who complete

training. In some cases, workers who trained for traditional jobs such as

bookkeeping could not find work, because all existing jobs were filled. In

other instances, workers received training in high-tech occupations that

do not yet exist in Martinsville and Henry County. Workers we

interviewed who are currently enrolled in training said that they were

resigned to the fact that they may have to seek jobs in their chosen

professions in larger cities such as Greensboro, North Carolina, which is

about 50 miles from Martinsville.

Martinsville and Henry County have undertaken a number of economic

development efforts to help the community recover from the massive

layoffs of recent years. As part of an Economic Development District

designated by the Economic Development Administration, the community

is required to prepare an annual comprehensive economic development

strategy. It also received extensive attention from the National Economic

Council, which coordinated visits to the areas by federal officials. The

Economic Development District also has received a $60,000 grant from

EDA to prepare a regional economic adjustment strategy that focuses on

the adverse impacts of trade. Both strategies propose and prioritize

projects, such as industrial parks and business incubators, that qualify for

state and federal economic assistance. Since 1999, Martinsville and Henry

Country have received $1.7 million in EDA and Department of Agriculture

grants. The communities also have been awarded $1.6 million in state

grants and loans, and they qualify for special state tax incentives for

businesses to locate or expand in the area. In addition, the local economic

planning board, the Patrick Henry Development Council, has developed a

strategy to promote economic development in Martinsville/Henry County

that centers on recruiting and retaining industries, attracting new capital

investment, and increasing tax revenues.

Economic Adjustment

Efforts
Appendix VI: Martinsville and Henry County,

Virginia, Case Study Profiles

Page 67 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

A number of efforts to implement plans for economic development are

ongoing in Martinsville and Henry County. The Patrick Henry

Development Council recently contracted with two consulting firms to

develop a profile of the local workforce. The profile is intended to

promote the workforce skills currently available in the area to prospective

new businesses and to point out skill gaps that need to be filled to bring in

new businesses offering stable, well-paying jobs. The council also has an

ongoing campaign to attract new businesses, including running an ad in

the Wall Street Journal and distributing a CD-ROM that promotes the area.

The council has financed these projects through a $350,000 grant it

received from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Martinsville and Henry County have seen a net increase in jobs in recent

years, according to the Economic Development District, but local officials

are quick to point out that many new jobs are low skilled and low wage.

Since 1993, Martinsville and Henry County have lost 6,364 jobs, mostly in

the textile and furniture industries. During the same period, 7,043 new

jobs were announced for a net gain of 679.
Appendix VII: Objectives, Scope, and

Methodology

Page 68 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

The Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Finance

asked us to follow up on our prior evaluations of federal trade adjustment

assistance programs with case studies focused on the experiences of

trade-impacted communities. Specifically, we examined (1) the impact of

trade-related layoffs on these communities, (2) the experiences of these

communities with dislocated worker assistance, (3) their experiences with

economic adjustment assistance, and (4) the lessons learned from these

communities’ experiences.

To address all of these objectives, we conducted case studies in six

communities. Between January and March 2001, we visited Watsonville,

California; Coushatta, Louisiana; Owosso, Michigan; Washington and

Chocowinity, North Carolina; El Paso, Texas; and Martinsville and Henry

County, Virginia. We chose these locations on the basis of criteria

designed to identify communities hardest hit by trade-related layoffs. First,

we identified the total number of workers certified for trade adjustment

assistance for fiscal years 1994 to 1999. We then analyzed the top industry

sectors and divided cases by community, state, economic sector, and

number of certified workers from fiscal years 1994 to 1999. We then added

the number of workers certified across communities for these fiscal years;

this yielded a list of about 300 communities that had more than 500

workers certified to receive TAA benefits. Next, we obtained 1999

population data for these communities from the Bureau of the Census Web

site and calculated the percentage of individuals potentially affected by

trade-related layoffs. Then by considering this factor, as well as region,

industry sector, and presence of federal program activity such as CAIP, we

pared the list to 48 communities. After that, we obtained city and county

unemployment data for fiscal years 1994 to 1999 and October 2000 from

the Bureau of Labor Statistics Web site in order to determine whether the

trade-related layoffs had influenced local unemployment levels and the

current local unemployment level. We then ranked the communities on

three dimensions: (1) the current unemployment rate, (2) the percentage

of the local population that was covered by a Department of Labor

certification, and (3) the communities with the biggest change in their

peak unemployment rate following a trade-related layoff from 1994 to the

present. We called state and local officials to verify the nature and extent

of trade-related job losses in these communities and the types of

assistance that had been used, that is, training, community assistance, or

grants provided by Commerce’s Economic Development Administration,

CAIP, and the Department of Labor. We dropped one community from our

list because their employer had recalled the trade-certified workers.

Appendix VII: Objectives, Scope, and

Methodology
Appendix VII: Objectives, Scope, and

Methodology

Page 69 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

When we visited each community, we interviewed local government

officials; community leaders; training providers; and, if available, workers

receiving benefits from trade adjustment assistance programs. During our

visit to Watsonville, we also interviewed Department of Agriculture field

officials regarding Agriculture’s economic assistance in the area. We also

obtained in each of these communities, if available, information on worker

training programs, economic planning documents, and documentation

regarding state and federal economic assistance.

To further address the first three objectives, we met with federal and state

officials who administer trade adjustment assistance programs for

workers and economic assistance programs for communities and reviewed

reports on worker and economic adjustment assistance. In Washington,

D.C., we met with officials from several agencies, including the

Department of Labor, which administers the TAA and NAFTA-TAA

programs; the Department of the Treasury, which is the lead agency

administering CAIP; and the Economic Development Administration,

which administers the Trade Adjustment Assistance program for firms and

provides economic assistance to distressed communities. We also

discussed economic adjustment efforts in communities affected by

military base closures with staff from the Office of Economic Adjustment

in the Department of Defense to determine lessons learned that could be

applied to our case study communities. In addition, we met with the

Director of CAIP’s Los Angeles office to discuss CAIP assistance to

potential case study sites. We also interviewed a number of state officials

to discuss their administration of the TAA and NAFTA-TAA programs, as

well as the state economic assistance available to case study communities.

We reviewed our prior reports on trade adjustment assistance to workers

and economic assistance to communities, as well as reports by other

organizations on the impact of trade on workers and communities.

In addressing the first three objectives, we also obtained and analyzed data

from several sources. For the first objective on the impact of trade-related

layoffs on the case study communities, we first obtained and analyzed

Department of Labor data on the number of workers certified for TAA

benefits in the six communities from 1995 through 2000. These data only

represents workers potentially displaced for trade-related reasons, not

actual jobs lost.1

 However, it is the best indicator available on the potential

 1

In some cases, workers certified faced potential job loss but had not been laid off. Thus,

program certifications are not an accurate count of job losses due to trade.
Appendix VII: Objectives, Scope, and

Methodology

Page 70 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

effect of trade on workers. As an indicator of the impact of trade-related

layoffs on the communities, we examined Bureau of Labor Statistics

unemployment data for the periods before and after trade-related layoffs

in the communities. For the second objective on the experiences of the

case study communities with dislocated worker assistance, we obtained

and analyzed information from two other Department of Labor databases.

To determine the number of recipients and costs of trade readjustment

allowance payments and training under TAA and NAFTA-TAA in the six

communities, we obtained and analyzed Department of Labor data on

services provided to participants under the programs for fiscal years 1995

to 2000. We also obtained participant outcome data for the six

communities and nationwide collected by Labor for 1999 and 2000 and

analyzed it, focusing on demographic characteristics, wages, training, and

reemployment. For the third objective on the communities’ experiences

with economic adjustment assistance, we obtained and analyzed

information from EDA, the Department of Agriculture, and Department of

Housing and Urban Development on the amount and types of assistance

that the agencies provided to each community. We did the same with

information from the Treasury on CAIP assistance to the communities.

We conducted our work from November 2000 through June 2001 in

accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.
Appendix VIII: Comments From the

Department of Commerce

Page 71 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

Appendix VIII: Comments From the

Department of Commerce

Note: GAO comments

supplementing those in

the report text appear at

the end of this appendix.

See comment 2.

See comment 1.
Appendix VIII: Comments From the

Department of Commerce

Page 72 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities
Appendix VIII: Comments From the

Department of Commerce

Page 73 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

 The following are GAO’s comments on the Department of Commerce’s

 letter dated August 17, 2001.

1. The statement in the draft report on page 29 said that this grant was

pending as of May 2001, which was consistent with the information

provided to us by EDA. We have updated the text to reflect that it has 

 since been awarded.

 2. Based on clarifications provided by EDA, we have dropped this

 statement from the text.

GAO Comments
Appendix IX: Comments From the Department of the

Treasury

Page 74 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

Appendix IX: Comments From the

Department of the Treasury

Note: GAO comments

supplementing those in

the report text appear at

the end of this appendix.

Now on p. 29.

See comment 1.
Appendix IX: Comments From the Department of the

Treasury

Page 75 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

See comment 3.

See comment 2.
Appendix IX: Comments From the Department of the

Treasury

Page 76 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities
Appendix IX: Comments From the Department of the

Treasury

Page 77 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

 The following are GAO’s comments on the Department of the Treasury’s

 letter dated August 16, 2001.

1. The Department of the Treasury agreed with our characterization of

CAIP funding as limited, but pointed out that more CAIP financing for

communities was potentially available, if the communities requested it. We

 clarified the report by adding a statement that businesses and potential

 grantees must apply for CAIP financing. CAIP does not provide funding

 directly to eligible counties, but rather offers access to competitively

 awarded grants or enhanced to credit through loans and loan guarantees.

 2. We revised the text to add that the restaurant was also being used as a

 training facility.

 3. The Treasury disagreed with statements in the draft report that are

 based on our recent evaluation of CAIP, that CAIP loan guarantees made in

 partnership with the Small Business Administration would likely have been

 made anyway without CAIP’s participation. Our position, which remains

 unchanged, is that outcome measures and a monitoring system are needed

 to demonstrate the benefits CAIP has brought to communities.

GAO Comments
Appendix X: GAO Contact and Staff

Acknowledgments

Page 78 GAO-01-838 Trade Adjustment Assistance in Case Study Communities

Phillip Herr, (202) 512-8509

In addition to the person named above, Leyla Kazaz, Ed Laughlin, Chris

Shine, Larry Thomas, Bill Hansbury, Bob DeRoy, Kathleen Joyce, and Lynn

Cothern made key contributions to this report.

Appendix X: GAO Contact and Staff

Acknowledgments

GAO Contact

Staff

Acknowledgments

(320011)
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