Demolition and repairs have already started on the 46,000 square foot building in Goldsboro on Highway 117 South that was flooded like many other properties after Hurricane Matthew.
“It devastated a lot of families because they were put out of their places of business and their homes as well,” said Steve Bryan, owner of the property.
The flooding prompted the AT&T call center that was housed there to pull out. 95 AT&T employees are losing their jobs, and affected employees are being offered a chance to transfer to other locations.
The company is offering them a $10,000 relocation allowance to other AT&T offices, including locations in Fayetteville, Greensboro and Charlotte.
For those who chose not to relocate, AT&T is offering a variety of other compensation, including a “transition relief” payment of $7,500 and severance pay.
Mayor Chuck Allen believes the company is doing their best to help them.
“You never want to lose jobs, but we’ll figure it out,” Allen said. “AT&T has done the right thing. They have offered jobs to these employees somewhere else, and if they can’t go somewhere else, they’re going to give them a pretty good severance package.”
“It was much worse than Floyd, about 10 to 12 inches in here,” Bryan said.
As a building owner, he said he understands why AT&T is leaving, but he plans to restore the facility and find another tenant.
“We’re going to repair it, put it back, and try to find another user,” Bryan said.
And while the flooding is a setback for Goldsboro’s economy, the mayor believes the city will thrive again.
“For the most part I think most of these things will get rebuilt. It’s just not going to be fast,” Allen said.
