On Thursday, Tyson Foods Inc. announced the closure of their two plants in Jefferson, Wisconsin and Chicago, according to The Wall Street Journal. This move will affect 880 of their employees - roughly 480 in Chicago and 400 in Wisconsin.
Donnie King, the president of Tyson's North American operations, shared that the decision was a very difficult one to make for the corporation. But they were careful in examining every option before they reached this decision and they've determined that Tyson can only move forward providing better service to their customers if they consolidate productions at the other facilities.
The main reasons for the closing of the two plants were their distance from the suppliers, the age of the facilities, and the possible cost they would need to shoulder if they renovated. The Chicago plant catered to the hospitality industry producing meatballs, crepes, omelettes and soups while the Wisconsin plant catered to pizzerias and delis producing sliced ham, pepperoni and salami.
The closing of the plants will not happen until October of next year though, during the second half of their fiscal year but right now the effects are already felt by the employees, their families as well as the towns that the plants belong to.
Jefferson Mayor Dale Opperman said that Tyson's decision on closing down their plant came as a big surprise and will hugely affect the community. He even added that everybody in town knows someone who works at the plant so the news had brought about a very challenging day in the city.
Jefferson City Administrator Timothy Freitag also stated that they are extremely concerned about the welfare of the employees that will be affected by this decision and they would need to work closely with the Wisconsin Workforce Development.
Mayor Opperman is optimistic though and said they have dealt with huge problems like this before but time and time the community has always survived as they are very strong and resilient one. He added that "There is a history of bouncing back, and we're going to put our entire efforts and resources towards that."
