The town's only two dive shops are dark
That's created tough times for small communities like Big Sandy
decorative and Camden, located about an hour and a half west of Nashville, as their populations shrink, businesses close and unemployment has soared to nearly 13 percent in Benton County alone.
The last of four convenience stores along the river near Camden closed last year. The town's only two dive shops are dark as well.
Five mussel export businesses — companies that paid cash by the pound at outdoor weigh stations near the river — now number only three, and the companies' barbecues and lavish year-end giveaways (boats, booze, trips) to compete for divers' catches are a thing of the past.
