Fresh Creative Foods, which operated as Vaughan Foods at the time of the beheading, notified employees this week it will close the plant Dec. 1.
MOORE — A food manufacturing business where a woman lost her life in a 2014 beheading is closing, its owner confirmed on Friday.
Fresh Creative Foods, which operated as Vaughan Foods before being renamed, notified its employees and city officials this week it will close the plant Dec. 1. City officials said 367 employees will lose their jobs.
Reser’s, a national food manufacturer and distributor based in Oregon, has owned the Moore operation since it acquired Vaughan Foods for $18.25 million in 2011.
“In order to provide the best products and service to our Midwest customers, we are consolidating production from multiple Midwest facilities to our new 300,000-square-foot facility in the region,” a written statement issued by a Reser’s company representative said.
“The new plant was designed to provide enhanced flexibility and expanded capacity, and is located in close proximity to our Midwest distribution hub.”
The statement confirmed Fresh Creative Foods in Moore would close Dec. 1, adding the decision was a difficult one for Reser’s, and made after careful consideration.
“We are grateful to the men and women at the Moore, Oklahoma, plant for their service, and are committed to supporting their transition — whether it is continued employment at one of our other facilities, training assistance, or other job placement aid.”
The closure affects 367 full-time employees.
Moore city officials said Friday they were notified of Reser’s plans to close the business on Monday through a letter sent to the city’s mayor.
Diedre Ebrey, Moore’s director of economic development, said the city’s primary concern
is to help Fresh Creative Foods’ employees find jobs as quickly as possible.
“Our main concern is that those employees know where they can look for potential jobs, and that they get those resources in their hands as soon as possible,” Ebrey said.
Reser’s has been on both a growth and modernization track for some time.
A Business Facilities blog writer reported in October 2016 that Reser’s
was building a new 300,000-square-foot prepared salad plant costing more than $100 million in Topeka, Kansas, where it already has a large distribution center.
This week’s news about the Moore plant’s closing, while probably not unexpected, still comes at a difficult time for employees who work there.
On Friday, a jury convicted Alton Alexander Nolen, 33, of first-degree murder and five assault offenses in the beheading of a fellow employee at the food plant on Sept. 25, 2014.