WINDOM, Minn. — An Iowa pork processor has successfully bid $13 million for the shuttered HyLife Foods slaughterhouse in Windom, according to documents filed Friday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
HyLife filed for bankruptcy protection in April and since then more than 1,000 employees have been unsure about the southwestern Minnesota plant’s future. However, the new owner, Premium Iowa Park, doesn’t plan to retain any of them, HyLife said.
Initially, the Delaware-based bankruptcy court was to approve the sale on Friday, but the parties involved were still finalizing documentation, according to Michael Comerford, attorney for HyLife. The sale hearing was rescheduled for June 9.
Premium Iowa Pork could not immediately be reached for comment about the results of the May 26 auction.
Premium Iowa Pork is based in Hospers, Iowa, with a second facility, Premium Minnesota Pork, in Luverne.
“We had a successful buyer for our facility in Windom, subject to court approval,” a spokeswoman for Canadian-based HyLife said in a Friday statement. “This means our operations at the plant have come to an end as of June 2, 2023. Despite significant efforts to avoid this outcome, we are told that the buyer does not intend to retain employees at the Windom plant.”
HyLife is working with the Minnesota Dislocated Worker Program, and will have a rapid response team on-site to offer career counseling, resources and job search support, the spokeswoman said.
“This has been a trying journey for all involved; we would like to close by sincerely thanking our employees. Your dedication right up to the final day, is admirable,” the HyLife statement said. “We wish both our employees and the City of Windom all the best.”
Staff from the Southwest Minnesota Private Industry Council met with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development’s rapid response team Friday in order to prepare to help the former HyLife employees who are eligible for employment — about 421 of them.
About 490 employees working at the plant were in the U.S. on H-2B immigrant visas, and they were told May 25 that they would need to either find alternative employment under a company with the proper permissions for H-2B visas or depart the U.S. by June 3.
"processing" - Google News
June 03, 2023 at 05:17AM
https://ift.tt/NuAG0VZ
Iowa firm will buy bankrupt Windom pork processing plant for $13M; 1,000 jobs still lost for now - St. Paul Pioneer Press
"processing" - Google News
https://ift.tt/me1n3A0
https://ift.tt/zLS8kXn
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Iowa firm will buy bankrupt Windom pork processing plant for $13M; 1,000 jobs still lost for now - St. Paul Pioneer Press"
Post a Comment