The looming shutdown of a major auto parts plant in rural Tennessee is about to erase 136 paychecks and strip roughly $10 million in wages out of a small local economy. For a community built around steady factory work, the closure is not just a corporate restructuring, it is a shock that will ripple through households, storefronts, and county budgets for years. I want to look closely at what is happening in this corner of East Tennessee, why it matters far beyond one industrial park, and what options workers and local leaders really have.
What is happening in Telford, Tennessee
In the rolling hills of Washington County, the town of Telford has long depended on manufacturing as a pillar of middle class life. That foundation is now cracking as an auto parts facility prepares to wind down operations and permanently lay off its workforce. The decision means 136 people who have been clocking in at the same plant will soon be facing unemployment, and with them, 136 families will lose the stability that regular factory wages once provided.
The plant sits in the Washington County Industrial Park, a cluster of warehouses and production lines that has helped anchor jobs in this part of Telford, Tennessee. Company notices describe an orderly but relentless wind down, with layoffs scheduled in phases rather than a single abrupt closure. For workers, that means a countdown they can see coming but cannot easily escape, as each shift brings them closer to the last day the lines will run.
The company behind the closure
The factory at the center of this story is part of JTEKT, a major supplier in the auto industry that produces steering and driveline components for vehicles built across North America. In corporate terms, the decision to close a single facility can be framed as a consolidation of production or a response to shifting demand. On the ground in Telford, it looks like a multinational firm choosing to pull up stakes from a community that helped fuel its growth.
Company filings and local notices describe the move as an “upcoming JTEKT” closure that will affect a total of 136 Tennessee employees, with more than 100 of them based directly at the Telford site. Officials in WASHINGTON, COUNTY, Tenn have been told that the shutdown will unfold in stages, with the closure starting in April 2026 and continuing through the year at the industrial park. The total number of affected workers, explicitly listed as 136, underscores that this is not a minor trimming of staff but a full exit from the Washington County Industrial Park, as detailed in the company’s closure notice.
How many jobs are at stake
When people talk about plant closures, the numbers can blur into abstractions, but here the figures are stark and specific. The company has confirmed that 136 Tennessee employees will lose their positions as the Telford facility winds down, and local reporting has repeatedly emphasized that more than 100 workers at the manufacturing plant will be directly affected. In a town where large employers are scarce, that scale of job loss is enough to reshape the local labor market overnight…