Campbell County losing its second large employer in a month

Monday, DeRoyal stated it’s closing on the heels of BSH which made a similar announcement

CAMPBELL COUNTY, TN (WLAF)- On May 30, Campbell County Mayor Jack Lynch announced that Campbell County’s unemployment rate was at an all-time record low of 2.9%. That’s the lowest unemployment rate ever recorded in Campbell County dating back to when the state began maintaining county-level unemployment records.

The same day, the mayor learned that BSH, one of the county’s largest employers, was planning to close its Jacksboro and Caryville facilities. BSH employed more than 250 people, according to Mayor Lynch.

Yesterday, WLAF learned that DeRoyal Industries, like BSH, has many other plants around the world and is going to close its La Follette operation. DeRoyal-La Follette operates out of what was once the shirt factory complex, Imperial Reading, on East Central Avenue.

There were no options the City of La Follette could take to keep DeRoyal Industries in La Follette open, according to City of La Follette Administrator Stan Foust. Officials confirmed to WLAF News that all employees with the La Follette facility were notified Monday of the impending closing.

“It was a difficult decision, but we decided to close the facility due to discontinuing the line of consumer procedure trays,” said Rebecca Harmon, DeRoyal’s Chief Administrative Officer. The trays were made at the La Follette DeRoyal operation.

Foust spoke with Harmon via conference call on Monday afternoon learning that officials with DeRoyal had made up their minds to shutdown the East Central Avenue location.

Through September, operations will slow down, and by December 31, the facility will be closed, according to Harmon. The Chief Administrative Officer did not say how many jobs will be lost.

DeRoyal will set up job fairs and is meeting with ETHRA to help the employees. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-06/24/2025-6AM)