UPDATE: Locust Grove hopes for Less Developed Census Tract designation

LOCUST GROVE — With the closure of Smead Manufacturing, the city is looking to create a Less Developed Census Tract.

City council on Monday evening voted to approve a resolution to apply for the LDCT through the Department of Community Affairs for census tract 704.03, which encompassed Smead Manufacturing. The plant closed in April with plans to restructure. The closure resulted in the elimination of about 150 jobs at the Locust Grove plant, which resulted in a job loss of about 4.5 percent of the workforce in that census tract, according to city documents.