Sconza finds room to grow in Oakdale
By Ed Mendel
U-T SACRAMENTO BUREAU

July 13, 2008



The Modesto Bee
Demonstrators outside Oakdale's 2007 chocolate festival protested Hershey's plan to move.
OAKDALE – The smell of chocolate once wafted over this Central Valley town, tour buses stopped on the way to Yosemite to visit the Hershey plant, and chocolate was celebrated with an annual festival.
Then in February, Hershey, Oakdale's largest employer, closed the 43-year-old plant, eliminated the last of 575 jobs, and moved much of its equipment to a new plant in Monterrey, Mexico.

The need for cheaper labor in the new global economy stripped the town of good jobs, averaging $20 an hour, that had allowed generations of workers to buy houses, put kids through college, and have extras such as boats.

But this story about the harsh forces of globalization has a twist. A small candy company looking for room to grow, Sconza in Oakland, is moving into the Hershey plant and plans to open Oct. 1 with 100 or more employees.

“They (Hershey) are quickly becoming a forgotten name here in Oakdale,â€