$1 million lost in revenue after two Plymouth factories announce closures

NOW: $1 million lost in revenue after two Plymouth factories announce closures
NEXT:

PLYMOUTH, Ind. -- Two Plymouth factories are shutting down. Del Monte Foods announced Tuesday morning, they are closing their Plymouth location. 

After 35 year, Del Monte Foods was home to 107 full-time employees and numerous part-time employees.This comes just six weeks after Bay Valley foods told employees, they were shutting down.

"It's a big hit," says Mayor Mark Senter. "It's something we're going to have to deal with. It's a concern because of our utilities. They were number four in the use of waste water."

But what exactly does that mean?

It means Plymouth won't be getting the close to $1 million in revenue from either of the two factories.

Del Monte's waste water and water fees annually added up to approximately $200,000. 

Bay Valley Foods usually paid the city around $800,000. 

That's a lot of money that Plymouth will now have to deal without.

But Senter says he is already working on it.

"We're meeting with the Indiana Economic Development Corporation next week, to try and tell them what we have, and what we have to offer," he explains.

He adds, this also is not the end all for the city.

"We're not a ghost town. There's a lot going on right now," Senter says. "We have two food groups, yogurt and pretzels, that are here. So, I'm very confident we can get something back in there."

Right now, he's more concerned and focused on the well-being of the employees, who soon will be without jobs. 

"Stay with us. I promise the employees, that we will work with you to help," Senter adds. 

And in the meantime, he says, there are around 300-400 available jobs in Marshall County, that are looking to be filled.

"If you drive down Oak Drive right now, you'll see help wanted signs everywhere," Senter explains. "And that's probably a good position to be in, if you're going to lose your job."

The company sent the following statement to ABC57 News:

"We thank the dedicated employees and the Plymouth Community for its support over the years. While this decision was a difficult one, we are committed to continuing to meet consumers' ongoing demands for high quality products at a reasonable value,"

- Dave Meyers, COO of Del Monte Foods 

  

Share this article: