FORT SMITH, Ark.—When a new refrigerator plant opened here in 1962, this city held a parade to celebrate the arrival of a big employer that helped compensate for job losses at a nearby Army base, Fort Chaffee.

Now the resilience of Fort Smith, long noted for its ability to attract manufacturers and their well-paying jobs, is being tested again. Whirlpool Corp., the current owner of the refrigerator plant, recently disclosed it would close the factory by mid-2012, moving some of its 1,000 jobs to other plants in the U.S. and...