NYBERG: OFFICIALS WILL ACTIVELY PURSUE LAND O' LAKES REPLACEMENT
Thursday, February 2nd, 2006 -- 12:34 PM
Land O?Lakes, Inc. Wednesday announced plans to close its Greenwood barrel cheddar cheese manufacturing facility. The facility employs thirty people and will close on Februrary 24th. Local officials are already making plans to help the soon-to-be displaced workers and get the facility back in production-mode. Sheila Nyberg, director of the Clark County Economic Development Corporation, says a response is already being formulated with her office, Jody Connor of the Clark County Job Center, Barb Petkosvek of the County Department of Administration, the City of Greenwood and Ann Raid of West Central Regional Planning participating.
Goal number 1: help the employees. She is hopeful the area will be able to absorb soon-to-be unemployed workers.
"We've got some long-term interesting projects coming in -- they take awhile when they're larger," Nyberg says. "We've got a lot of nice medium to smaller-size business movements that will need employees also."
Finding a business to fill the plant is also at the top of her list. It remains unclear if Land O?Lakes will be selling a ?shell? or if they will leave equipment in place.
"That was one my main questions: what is going to be left? Those are issues we need to understand as soon as possible for the ability to sell it," Nyberg says.
Officials hope the plant won't sit vacant for a long-period of time, Nyberg says.
"(We'll) perhaps 'headhunt' for the right business to come in and take (the facility)," Nyberg states. "We're not going to just rest. We have to have different attitude of moving it fast."
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