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Sara Lee is closing its plant in the Tupelo Lee South Industrial Park, where it's been operating since 1997, the company said today.
The plant, which makes the Bryan Smokies cocktail sausages, is expected to close by March 30. About 155 employees will be laid off.
Here's a press release from Mike Cummins, Sara Lee's director of corporate communications:
The decision to close the facility is the result of excess capacity and Sara Lee’s ongoing efforts to consolidate resources and simplify operations in the ongoing transition to a pure-play business model. Production at Tupelo will transfer to our Claryville, Ky., and St. Joseph, Mo., facilities.
While this facility is a legacy Bryan manufacturing plant, we have no intention of exiting the brand. We remain committed to the Bryan brand, its Southern heritage and maintaining our loyal following.
Any decision that affects the livelihood of our employees is made by Sara Lee only after very careful consideration. We want to emphasize that our decision is not driven by the quality of our workforce at this site. We understand this will be a very difficult time for our employees and their families. Impacted employees will receive appropriate support from the company, including severance and outplacement assistance. We also will coordinate efforts with state training and employment agencies to help facilitate and ease the transition.
We anticipate the facility will close on March 30, 2012. Employees will receive a 60-day WARN notice in accordance with federal regulations. Depending on the ramp-down schedule and facility closure needs, some employees might be able to stay longer and their termination date might be extended by mutual agreement.
For the remaining time the plant is open, our focus will continue to be operating in a safe and efficient manner and producing high-quality products.
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Ironically, the closing of the plant also is the fifth anniversary of Sara Lee's decision to shut down its Bryan Foods plant in West Point. In 2007, the last 400 or so workers at the plant that once employed 1,200-plus workers shut down.
CDF President and CEO David Rumbarger confirmed the closing, although he hasn't officially heard from the company. However, he did say MDA and MDES have been notified, and a Rapid Response Team is ready to help with outplacement services, worker training, etc., as soon as they hear from Sara Lee.
Rumbarger said that any layoff is undesirable, but noted that the layoff affects less than 1 percent of Lee County's manufacturing workforce. He said the ramp-up of Toyota suppliers, and expansions of other manufacturers will help offset the Sara Lee loss. He also said Sara Lee workers shouldn't have any problems finding manufacturing jobs
Read more in tomorrow's Daily Journal.
Uggggh ... So TIRED of hearing how Toyota is going to wave some magic wand over the area and fix *EVERYTHING*.
Isn't the county unemployment rate well over 10%? Heck, Toyota hasn't even begun to cover the loss of jobs that the furniture industry has hemorrhaged over the last 2-3 years ... We can't keep using "TOYOTA WILL SAVE US!" as our rallying cry ... I'd say that even with Toyota and all of its suppliers, the region is still at a rather nasty job deficit right now.
We need MORE than Toyota to come close to getting this region back to where it once was. CDF has its hands full ... It's time to stop slapping each other on the back for Toyota and start getting their hands dirty attracting new business and industry.