Brendan Bakala

/ JOBS + GROWTH
MAY 18, 2017
The plant will close its doors by July 17 and offer some employees relocation opportunities.

Butterball announced that it will close its Montgomery-based facility, costing 600 jobs. The Montgomery plant specialized in bacon processing and will close its doors permanently by July 17.
Butterball cited “changing market conditions” and “consumer needs” as the reason for the closure.
Butterball has stated some workers may be relocated to other facilities.
“We are committed to retaining as many of our Montgomery employees as possible, and are committed to offering relocation assistance to any of our team members who have an interest in staying with the company and accept an available position at another location,” Butterball Chief Operations Officer Jay Jandrain said in a statement obtained by ABC 7 Chicago.
“In addition, we will be working diligently with leaders across the enterprise and with other resources in the days and weeks ahead to identify and provide opportunities for outplacement and retraining for those affected, and 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.”
The closure of the Butterball plant is yet another blow for the Aurora area. In March, Caterpillar announced it was closing its Aurora-based plant, costing the area 800 jobs.
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

DEAR READER:

To make informed decisions, the public must receive the unbiased truth. Unfortunately, that isn’t what we often get out of our elected officials or the legacy media. At the Illinois Policy Institute, that is something we are going to fix.
We are an independent nonprofit consisting of more than 20 writers and policy experts. Our mission is to generate public policy solutions that promote personal freedom and prosperity in Illinois.

  • We have produced the only viable plan to balance the state budget while also reducing the tax burden placed on residents like you.
  • Our work is consumed by more than 500,000 Illinoisans each month, free of charge.
  • We are funded solely by the support of the general public. We receive no government dollars.

But to continue to provide unbiased reporting and viable policy solutions, we need your support.
If you want to see a more prosperous Illinois for your family and friends, please take a minute to help make a difference. Thank you.

DONATE TODAY!
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

But it’s not just Aurora that’s hurting.
Illinois lost 8,900 jobs in March and has fewer jobs presently than 2000, when the state reached peak employment. For the past several years, manufacturing has been especially hard hit; in 2015, Illinois lost 5,000 manufacturing jobs and in 2016, Illinois lost 7,700 manufacturing jobs. And 2017 is not looking any better as Illinois lost 800 net manufacturing jobs in the first three months of 2017.
Since the turn of the century, Illinois has lost 300,000 factory jobs with most of the jobs gained in the service and hospitality sectors. Illinois also has some of the worst overall regional jobs growth, and since January 2010 has had the worst manufacturing jobs growth in the region.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR