Creswell poultry processor closing.Byline: Joe Mosley The Register-Guard CRESWELL - The once-thriving local poultry industry has fallen beyond paltry pal·try adj. pal·tri·er, pal·tri·est 1. Lacking in importance or worth. See Synonyms at trivial. 2. Wretched or contemptible. . Foster Farms, the largest chicken processor in the Western United States Noun 1. western United States - the region of the United States lying to the west of the Mississippi River West Santa Fe Trail - a trail that extends from Missouri to New Mexico; an important route for settlers moving west in the 19th century , will shut down the remnants of its Creswell operations on Saturday. The move will idle the final 15 local employees from a work force that numbered more than 250 as recently as six years ago, and will close the book on an industry that has been part of this town for at least 48 years. "We have a lot of good feelings about Creswell, and it was a really good community," said Frank Panarra, human resources The fancy word for "people." The human resources department within an organization, years ago known as the "personnel department," manages the administrative aspects of the employees. manager for Foster Farms' Northwest Division Two of North America's major professional sports leagues contain a Northwest Division.
It was not immediately clear what will become of the Foster Farms plant - about 35,000 square feet of production space on a 16.6-acre parcel. "We don't have any plans in place to sell it, although that may be a possibility," Panarra said. "We get calls (about the facility), but to my knowledge we haven't made any arrangements ... or talked with anybody." California-based Foster Farms eliminated more than 50 local production jobs last October, shifting them to a mammoth mammoth, name for several large prehistoric elephants of the extinct genus Mammuthus, which ranged over Eurasia and North America in the Pleistocene epoch. chicken processing plant that was built in Kelso eight years ago with the idea of consolidating the company's regional operations at one site. Only a skeleton crew The term skeleton crew is used to indicate the minimum number of personnel needed to operate and maintain an item at its most simple operating requirements, such as a ship or business, during an emergency and, at the same time, to keep vital functions operating. remained to operate a rendering plant at the sprawling Creswell facility, which has the capacity to process more than a quarter-million chickens per week. After Saturday, byproducts of the company's chicken-processing operations will be sold "on the open market" rather than rendered by Foster Farms, Panarra said. "I don't think this is going to be a big surprise to the community," he said of Wednesday's closure announcement. "Certainly, the employees weren't surprised." As was the case last year, the company has offered to relocate any of its affected Creswell employees to Kelso. Those who decline are offered a severance package A severance package is pay and benefits an employee receives when they leave employment at a company. In addition to the employee's remaining regular pay, it may include some of the following:
Foster Farms purchased the Creswell plant in 1987 from Willamette Poultry Co., the corporate parent of Fircrest Poultry Farms poultry farm n → granja avícola poultry farm n → élevage m de volaille poultry farm poultry n → . The facility had expanded steadily under the Fircrest brand since 1959, when the four original partners in Willamette Poultry purchased tiny Miller Poultry - which was processing about 5,000 chickens per week - for $19,000. Lane County property records now place the real market value of the Creswell property and buildings at $4.4 million, though the assessment figures typically lag well below selling prices. Creswell City Administrator Mark Shrive shrive v. shrove or shrived, shriv·en or shrived, shriv·ing, shrives v.tr. 1. To hear the confession of and give absolution to (a penitent). 2. said the plant's gradual closure has had a significant effect on the city's water-user budget. Foster Farms previously accounted for about a third of the city's water use. "It's going to affect the water budget - we see a 30 percent decline in revenue (from users)," Shrive said. "But from a long-term perspective, we're not producing as much water, either. That will probably extend the life of our water production facilities." He said the company will also be missed in civic circles - Foster Farms has been a willing supporter of several school programs and youth activities. "That will be a loss to the city, just in terms of their partnership," Shrive said. Although the property is technically outside the city limits, Creswell officials have been involved in discussions about what type of company may be most appropriate if Foster Farms decides to sell. "Maybe some kind of industrial use, with the buildings they have," Shrive said. "And they essentially have their own wastewater (treatment) plant. So a similar use is probably the logical type of business to go in there." Panarra, the Foster Farms spokesman, pointed out that the facility also has significant freezer freezer the compartment in which meat and offal are stored at freezing temperatures of 10 to 16°F (-12 to -9°C) although there is a trend to lower temperatures of 0 to -22°F (-18 to -30°C). space that could be put to use by a cold-storage company. "That would be one option that comes to mind," he said. After Saturday's shutdown shut·down n. A cessation of operations or activity, as at a factory. shutdown Noun the closing of a factory, shop, or other business Verb shut down of the rendering plant, three maintenance employees will remain at the facility for about two months to shut down all systems and mothball moth·ball n. 1. A marble-sized ball, originally of camphor but now of naphthalene, stored with clothes to repel moths. 2. mothballs a. the plant, Panarra said. |
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