Thread: Guess what happens when Smithfield Foods leaves VA?

Smithfield leaves Virginia and where they are receiving negative actions about hiring illegals evidently (my personal opinion). Sure there are factors about "lower wages here", etc., etc., etc. BUT once again a meat packing plant is running under the gun. Notice they don't mention hiring practices in the article - all you have to do is READ BETWEEN THE LINES!

http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... 2fjJALo%3D

Morrell project eases fears
Plant's $2M expansion plan makes closure less likely

By JONNIE TATé FINN
PUBLISHED: December 27, 2007

John Morrell & Co. is planning a $2 million expansion in Sioux Falls that calms the jitters of city officials concerned that the plant might be downsized or closed.

The relief comes less from the dollar value of the project than the fact that Smithfield Foods - Morrell's parent company - is spending money in Sioux Falls at all.

Two years ago, the company announced amid much fanfare a $100 million expansion that would modernize the century-old plant and cement its future in the city. But those plans fell apart last year when Smithfield spent more than $1.4 billion to acquire other meat-processing companies in the United States and Europe.

That was followed by a string of closings and downsizings at other Midwestern locations that fueled speculation about the company's future in South Dakota. With more than 3,000 workers, John Morrell is one of Sioux Falls' largest employers, and while the local economy has diversified in recent decades, the plant remains a significant cog in the regional economy.

Company leaders consistently have said there are no immediate plans to reduce the workforce here. Investment of hard currency, however, is strong evidence in support of those assurances.

"That sounds like better news than I had feared," said Peter Carstensen, a law professor at the University of Wisconsin who specializes in agricultural markets and tracks Smithfield.

Carstensen had predicted the Virginia-based company would pull out of South Dakota given the string of closings elsewhere.

"Two million dollars for a company the size of Smithfield is pocket money, but it's still $2 million," he said Wednesday. "To me, what this says now is they're wanting to keep the plant in good working order and wanting to make a good investment out of it."

An application for a building permit recently filed with the city indicates that Morrell will add 6,685 square feet to the east pen area to increase the hog-stunning area, where pigs are put to sleep with carbon monoxide, said Ron Bell, with the city's building services department.

Story Construction, an Iowa company, will be the contractor, Bell said.

Company officials did not return phone calls Wednesday seeking comment.

The Sioux Falls plant remains a major player in the pork industry, with a capacity to slaughter and process about 19,000 pigs each day. That not only supplies the city with a source of solid blue-collar jobs but also gives pork producers in a three-state area a place to sell their animals.

The proposed investment comes as welcome news to Mayor Dave Munson.

"I think that's very positive," Munson said. "I think Morrell's is doing well here, and I think they're a great company to have in Sioux Falls. I just think any expansions or additions they do is positive for the company."

Dirt work at the site won't begin until city officials are satisfied plans meet certain environmental and fire codes, Bell said.

Bell said Morrell plans to attach the addition to an existing structure that is about 50 years old. Bell said the city's Fire Prevention Division wants assurance from the company that automatic fire extinguishers in new and existing structures meet city codes.

"It's up to them to provide us with enough information that they're going to meet these codes prior to us releasing a building permit," Bell said.

When you can't have your way in one place, find someplace else to do it .. or something to that effect when it comes to BIG BUSINESS!! I still have a brother-in-law ragging about the UNION BUST IN 1987 and he still goes out of his way to avoid Morrell's or Smithfield food products.

I take it Smithfield Hams are not from Smithfield Va. as they once were!

Although Souix Falls has had some success with the financial sector administration and call centers the Northern Plains Region is still the United States most depressed and declining area. It would be easier to obtain legal hires there than perhaps any place else.