Life on the brink
Waves of shutdowns, layoffs overwhelm Fall River
FALL RIVER - Tough times, locals will tell you, are always tougher here.
Since the beginning of the year, more than 13,000 people have walked through the doors of the state's career center in Fall River, a 42 percent increase from this time in 2008. It's one of the busiest places in town. Phones ring constantly, case workers hustle between cubicles, and job seekers tap at keyboards, sending out resumes and beefing up their skills. The center's staff of 22 has been expanded by three to handle the crush of requests for help, but it's hard to keep up with the waves of layoffs and closings.
This is what it's like in a community where the unemployment rate has hit almost 16 percent - roughly twice the state average. Out of a workforce of 45,000, about 7,000 residents were unemployed in January. And those numbers could go up. Earlier this month, for instance, 149 city jobs were eliminated to close a $3 million budget gap.
While the rest of Massachusetts copes with a recession, Fall River, and a few other places - mostly lower-income cities - teeter on the edge of economic depression.
"This is the worst I've seen," said Sandra Almeida, 58, who has been attending a computer skills class at the center. Almeida has been laid off three times since 2005, most recently in November, when she lost her job handling medical records at a hospice. "It's very scary," she said.
Fall River, 50 miles south of Boston and with a population of about 91,000, once dominated the nation's cotton textile industry. Today, few working mills remain. The skyline is dominated by aging factory buildings. Around the city, some retail storefronts are dark, or appear so quiet that a "going out of business" sale could be one bad month away.
From 1991 to 2007, between 13,000 and 14,000 manufacturing jobs disappeared - a huge blow for city with a productive but largely blue-collar workforce. Nothing substantial has replaced them.
At Columbia Bakery on a recent weekday afternoon, owner Laurinda Dias packaged goods for a handful of customers. Business has slowed noticeably in the last few months, so she is staying open eight fewer hours a week.
"There's no work, no money," Dias said. "It's too much for Fall River."
But it's not just the number of jobs that is a concern - it's the quality, too. Fewer than 14 percent of Fall River residents over age 25 have earned a bachelor's degree or higher degree, compared with 37 percent statewide, according to the most recent Census numbers. That makes it difficult to attract cutting-edge companies that offer high-paying professional positions.
"The region has a very strong workforce, but it tends not to be the most well-educated," said John Miller, director of operations at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth's Advanced Technology & Manufacturing Center, which helps start-up companies.
In addition, the city's median household income is $36,300, and 15.5 percent of families live in poverty. That compares with a state median household income of almost $61,800 and a 7.2 percent poverty rate.
All of that adds up to a precarious position for Fall River, said John Schneider, executive vice president of MassINC, an educational and research institute that studied how to revive the state's historic industrial cities.
"Whatever the city, whatever the region can do to improve education and training, it's got to be a priority," Schneider said. "The danger for any of these communities is that they become poorer, that they are not able to reverse certain trends, and that they end up having a bigger hole to climb out of."
According to the state's Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, Fall River's unemployment rate has been consistently higher than the state average for decades. In 2007, for example, the city lost about 900 jobs when one of its largest employers,
There are efforts to change that: The career center offers training, and a billboard advertises a campaign to make sure high school students graduate.
But for some unemployed people, the needs are more immediate. About 240 families turned to the Salvation Army for help in January, officials said - double last year's number. On days when food is distributed through the organization's Fall River pantry, "you can't even get in our hallway, there are so many people here," said Elizabeth Deming, a Salvation Army major. "We're seeing a lot of first-time people, a lot of working families trying to stretch their dollars."
One of those first-timers is Stacey, 35, a mother of two young children who asked that her last name not be used because she doesn't want her family's financial problems made public.
"It feels like you can't take care of your family," she said. Stacey said she was laid off from her job in June. She and her husband, a construction worker who is earning less these days, cut back on nonessentials, but still didn't have enough money. So they started using the Salvation Army's food pantry.
"You don't have a choice when things are more important," she said. "I have children."
The recently passed $787 billion economic stimulus bill provides some relief that should trickle down to Fall River's unemployed. Unemployment benefits have been temporarily expanded for those who file this year, and a subsidy has been put in place so people laid off can keep their healthcare coverage.
Despite the adversity, Kenneth Fiola Jr., executive vice president of the nonprofit Fall River Office of Economic Development, said he is hopeful about the city's long-term prospects. Since its establishment in 1978, the office has helped provide $65 million in loans to more than 500 businesses.
"We're used to fighting for survival every day, even in the good times, because we've lost so many manufacturing jobs," said Fiola, a Fall River native.
There are some jobs being created, just not fast enough.
NuOrtho Surgical Inc., a Fall River medical device start-up, plans to create 100 jobs in the next few years. BG Automotive Group, a Philadelphia company that manufactures electric cars, also is considering it for a plant that would employ about 150.
That's little consolation for people like Brian Rapoza. "Tough times have hit the city before, but not like this," said Rapoza, 44, a firefighter laid off this month. "You drive down the street and you know who's hurting."
Jason Burns's household took a double hit. The 33-year-old firefighter found out he was being laid off on the same day his girlfriend, Liz Silva, got a 30-day notice from the Swansea mortgage company where she works.
Like many, the couple isn't sure what will happen next.
"I've bartended in the past. I'll look into that," Burns said. "I'm not really in a position to pick and choose what I'm doing to bring money home."
Erin Ailworth can be reached at eailworth@globe.com. 
