THOMASVILLE — An industry that opened in Thomas County almost four decades ago is shutting down, putting 130 people out of work.

The closing process began with laying off 100 employees.

Cives Steel Company President Greg Orff said the 18 employees remaining at the Thomas County Cives plant are tasked with completely winding down the operation.

“It was with great regret that we announced the suspension of all operations at the Cives Steel Southern Division in Thomasville,” Orf said  in a statement. “Despite exceptional efforts by our personnel, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our operation in Thomasville created an unanticipated and unsustainable situation in what was already a difficult geographic market. These conditions forced us to make the very difficult decision of closing our facility.

“We will be working with our impacted personnel to ease the burden of this event as we immediately proceed with an orderly shutdown of operations.”

Cives Steel, a fabricator of steel structures, opened here 39 years ago. 

Cives, with corporate headquarters in Alpharetta, will have seven remaining operations nationwide, said Shelley Zorn, Thomasville Payroll Development executive director. The Thomas County facility is the only one closing, she said.

“It is always disheartening to see anyone lose their job,’ she said. “COVID has effected so many people and jobs in 2020.”

Existing industries are contacting the PDA about hiring displaced Cives Steel employees. 

“They are calling to fill those jobs and wanting the employees at Cives,” Zorn said.

She said recent new job announcements will help fill some of the jobs, as well.

“This shows the importance of economic development and what the PDA does every day, that we must always be searching for new quality jobs for our community,” Zorn said. “We must always have new jobs in the pipeline to remain the beautiful, vibrant community Thomasville has always been.”

The Georgia Department of Labor local office is organizing a virtual job fair to help Cives employees find jobs. Since a traditional job fair is not possible because of COVID, the job fair will connect employees and employers via Zoom calls and email, Zorn said.

Anyone interested in helping Cives employees find jobs is asked to contact Zorn at (229) 425-1026 or by email at szorn@rose.net. 

Senior reporter Patti Dozier can be reached at (229) 226-2400, ext. 1820