The nation's unemployment rate reached its highest point in 26 years, 10.2 % and Arkansas is feeling it. A Conway bus manufacturer announced it is ending production.

Friday afternoon, employees at the IC Corp plant in Conway left work with bad news. The company that's made school buses for decades will soon cut production and 477 people will be laid off.

"I would hate to be in that position,” said Vanessa Crowder of Smitty’s Barbecue.

Smitty’s is directly across from IC Corp.

"We get a lot of people here on their lunch breaks,” Crowder said.

Since IC has dwindled production before, Smitty’s has seen fewer customers.

Right now, 7.1 % of Arkansans find themselves out of a job.

"I'm going right back to work. I love to work,” said Tanesha Barrow who is determined to find a job.

"Once I was laid off, I just moved on to the next step. I didn't let that affect me,” she said.

Barrow is taking advantage of resources to get back to work. The Arkansas Department of Workforce Services helps people like her go back to school and allows the public to research job openings. These days more people are coming through the doors.

"Jobs are laying people off and it's hard to get them because of the economy but all you can do is keep trying,” Barrow said.

The Department of Workforce services received 1.2 million dollars in stimulus money. It used those funds this summer to match 380 youth with jobs. The rest of the money is being spent to help adults go back to school.

IC Corp officials say their layoffs will begin at the start of the new year as the company begins consolidating production with its plant in Tulsa.