Monday, June 01, 2009

Company Towns

Plenty of places have large employers which are important for the local economy, but some places are incredibly dependent on the good fortunes of just one.

SPRING HILL, Tennessee (CNN) -- General Motors idled it Spring Hill, Tennessee, facility as part of its bankruptcy plan Monday, leaving hundreds of employees -- and thousands of residents who rely on the plant's economic thrust -- in limbo.

Spring Hill, about 35 miles south of Nashville, is a town built on the jobs that the plant provides. The town has seen its population jump more than 1,600 percent in the almost 20 years since GM sent the first Saturn down the assembly line in June 1990.