Title: Oral history interview with Tracy L. H. Burnett, November 15, 1994
Description: Tracy L. H. Burnett started working at the White Furniture Company in the late 1980s, moving from building skids for shipping furniture, to finishing pieces, to inspection. In this interview, he offers a few thoughts on the factory's closing, which did not bother him since his ambitions were guiding him elsewhere. When the factory closed, Burnett took advantage of a training program and, using his new skills, ran an arcade and a video store before opening an insurance agency. The training program is one example of how the factory owners made the plant closing as smooth as possible. Burnett notes that they also gave workers six months' notice and seemed to have honest reasons for their decision. As opposed to others on the same subject, this interview offers a different approach to what many interviewees remember as a community tragedy.
Subjects: Interviews, Furniture workers, Employment, Furniture industry and trade, Plant shutdowns, Businesspeople, Quality control, White Furniture Company, Hickory White Company
Places: North Carolina, Mebane
People: Tracy L. H. Burnett (1966-)