Archived News

Mobile, Ala., ceiling plant manager John McClay (left) presents a $45,000 hurricane-relief donation to United Way of Mobile County executive director Angelo Miller. The funds are earmarked for Armstrong victims of Hurricane Katrina in Mobile and New Orleans.

Employees are reaching out to their associates in Mobile, Ala., Jackson, Miss., and New Orleans who have suffered personal and property losses as a result of Hurricane Katrina.

Mobile, Ala., ceiling plant: Mobile plant employees were heartened Tuesday, Sept, 13, when Pensacola, Fla., ceiling plant employees showed up with Wal-Mart gift cards for every Mobile employee. On the same day, a truckful of clothes arrived at the Mobile chapter of The American Red Cross and specially- created care packets for Mobile employees who lost all their belongings to the floodwater. Both were sent by employees at the Oneida, Tenn., wood flooring plant.

“Our plant is much appreciative of all the contributions and heartfelt caring shown by the Armstrong family,” said Ron Charles, HR Manager, Mobile ceiling plant.

Jackson, Miss., floor tile plant: In Lancaster, the African-American Council donated $800 to Catholic Charities in Jackson, Miss., earmarked for Jackson employees.

Employees at our plants in Center, Texas; Witt, Ark.; Jackson, Tenn.; Oneida, Tenn.; Statesville, North Carolina; and Kankakee, Ill, donated much needed water to Jackson employees, who lost power for more than two weeks after Katrina’s category 4 winds ripped through Mississippi, knocking down power lines and strewing roadways with debris.

The same plants also sent gasoline to Jackson to help hourly employees return to work after the interruption of Gulf Coast oil production set off a wave of high prices for gas throughout the country.

Meanwhile, the Mobile, Ala., ceilings plant is up and running and has returned to full shipping capacity less than two weeks after suffering significant high water damage during the catastrohic storm.

Mobile plant manager, John McClay said, “Thanks to the hard work and dedication of hundreds of employees and contractors, including over 60 mechanics and 25 engineers from Armstrong sites around the country, 80 regional electrical contractors, our corporate purchasing and customer focus teams, and the dedicated Mobile team, the plant began production on Sept. 10. and returned to full shipping capacity by the end of the same week.”