Butterball to close plant, cut 600 jobs
Daily Herald
Butterball LLC said Thursday it will close its bacon processing plant in Montgomery and cut about 600 full- time jobs by July 17.
North Carolina- based Butterball said the closure is due to “changing market conditions” and “consumer needs.”
About four years ago, Butterball bought Montgomerybased Gusto Packing Co., a maker of pork and turkey products under private labels for retail and food services nationwide. At that time, Butterball said it was looking to use the familyowned business to support its geographic expansion plan and manufacture innovative products.
Gusto, founded in 1972, operates at 2125 Rochester Drive, in Montgomery, located near Aurora.
Overall, the 60- year- old Butterball has about 7,000 employees who produce about 1 billion pounds of turkey products annually with processing facilities in North Carolina, Arkansas and Missouri. Once Montgomery closes its 260,000- squarefoot facility, Butterball will no longer have processing plants in Illinois.
Besides placing some affected workers at other facilities, Butterball “will be seeking support from local and state economic agencies to find a buyer for the facility with the hope of securing new opportunities for the local economy,” Chief Operating Officer Jay Jandrain said.
However, Butterball will continue to operate its wellknown Butterball Turkey Talk Line in Naperville with about 50 employees, Jandrain said.
The Workforce Development team at the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity will work with Butterball to provide workshops, job training and placement assistance to help the affected workers find new jobs, said Jacquelyn Reineke, spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Commerce.
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