Tyson to close Perry pork plant in June
Tyson to close Perry pork plant in June
By: Jared Strong – March 11, 2024 5:52 pm
Tyson Perry Facility on March 11, 2024. (Photo by Brooklyn Draisey/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
The largest employer in Perry — a Tyson Foods pork processing facility — is set to close permanently in June.
A Tyson spokesperson on Monday confirmed the pending closure but declined to say when it would happen. Perry Mayor Dirk Cavanaugh said the company told him the plant would close June 28.
The facility employs nearly 1,300 people, he said, whereas the next largest employers in town have 100 to 150 employees. Perry, in central Iowa, has about 8,000 residents.
“It was a complete shock to me,” Cavanaugh said. “It’s going to affect everything. … Everybody is going to feel the pinch.”
Tyson said the closure is a result of “our focus to optimize the efficiency of our operations to best serve our customers.”
“After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to permanently close our Perry, Iowa pork facility,” the company said Monday in an emailed statement. “We understand the impact of this decision on our team members and the local community.”
Tyson said it has more than 9,000 employees elsewhere in Iowa, which it said is a “key state” for the company.
The closure announcement follows some financial troubles for the company: It reported a loss of $648 million for its fiscal year that ended in September. About $450 million of that loss came in July, August and September.
The Perry processing plant has existed and expanded under various ownership for nearly 60 years. Its future is unclear. Cavanaugh said he didn’t yet know whether Tyson is willing to sell it to another meat processor, or whether another processor would buy it.
“How the town is going to recover, I don’t know,” he said.
Tyson said it is encouraging its Perry employees to apply for open jobs elsewhere in the company.
“We are also working closely with state and local officials to provide additional resources to those who are impacted,” the company said.
https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2024/03/11/tyson-to-close-perry-pork-plant-in-june/