Wednesday, Mar. 10, 2010

Garner looks beyond ConAgra

Some town leaders want to turn the ConAgra Foods site into a business park that could bring hundreds of jobs.

"The possibilities are, right now in my mind, truly endless," said Tony Beasley, Garner's economic-development director.

ConAgra announced last week it will close its Slim Jim plant off of Jones Sausage Road in 15 to 18 months, leaving 450 people jobless.

An explosion caused by a natural gas leak damaged the factory last summer, killing four people and injuring dozens more. ConAgra laid off hundreds of workers after the blast and transferred some Slim Jim production to other sites.

Last week's announcement put to rest months of uncertainty about whether the company would continue operating the Garner plant. ConAgra told workers it will shift production to its Troy, Ohio, plant. The company will donate the Garner plant to the town and will give Garner $3 million for a community center. The town will use $500,000 of that money to market the plant and its 106 acres near Interstate 40.

Garner will likely hire a consulting firm to conduct a market analysis of the site. Beasley said he hopes the land will be subdivided and sold to several businesses.

ConAgra will demolish the damaged part of the plant. The remaining part of the plant is ideal for another food manufacturer or a biopharmaceutical company, said Ken Atkins, director of Wake County Economic Development.

Town Manager Hardin Watkins said he wants a new business to be ready to move in as soon as ConAgra leaves.

"I think we can truly turn this into something positive for our community," Watkins said.

Disappointment

The plant has been a mainstay in Garner for decades, offering good wages to generations of workers who had few other options.

Jesse Jones Sausage Co. opened the plant in the 1960s, and General Mills began making Slim Jims there in 1968. GoodMark Foods later bought the Slim Jim brand, and the company merged with ConAgra. In 2007, ConAgra, one of the world's largest food companies, began a $38.5 million project to upgrade production lines at the plant.

Before the June 9 explosion, the plant was the world's only Slim Jim production site.

But last week, the company said it will be cheaper to make the meat snacks at its Ohio plant, which is bigger and more modern.

ConAgra shuttled hundreds of employees to The Clayton Center to give them the news. Some workers said they weren't surprised by the decision.

"I already was looking for another job," said Jarvis James, 21, of Raleigh. "It was just waiting for them to come out and say it."

James said he was laid off in November, but ConAgra called him back to work about a week later. He was laid off again last month.

Now, he's thinking of how he will support his kids, ages 1 and 2.

ConAgra executives will meet with the union that represents the plant's workers to negotiate severance pay and other issues. Some workers said last week they understood why ConAgra was closing the Garner plant.

"It's common sense," said Jesse Jones, 60, of Clayton. "It's business. They had to make a business decision. I don't like it, but what are you going to do? You have to go on with life."

Audrey Cooper-Hunt, 46, of Raleigh said she makes nearly $15 an hour at the plant. The money allowed her to buy a house and raise her two daughters.

"It was disappointing," she said of the news. "It was kind of depressing, but everybody was keeping their heads up."

Sean Fussell, 38, of Raleigh suffered broken ribs and a knee injury the day of the blast. He has worked at the plant for 18 years; his wife, Zona, has worked there 17 years.

"It seems like we're being penalized for something we didn't do," Fussell said.

But he remains optimistic. "We'll be OK," Fussell said. "I'm not worried."

In January, ConAgra Foods agreed to pay a $106,440 fine and improve safety at the Garner plant as a result of the explosion. The state Department of Labor found 26 serious health and safety violations.

Investigators say the explosion occurred as a contractor was trying to light a gas-fired water heater inside a pump room at the plant.

Looking ahead

Garner and state officials had worked to put together a financial-incentives package to convince ConAgra to stay.

But Greg Smith, vice president of supply chain for the company, said incentives wouldn't have made a difference, although the company had wanted to stay in Garner.

"It was a very difficult decision, but it was a necessary decision," Smith said.

ConAgra will expand production at the Ohio plant during the next 12 to 15 months and add 190 employees to the 400 already there. The company is getting tax breaks to expand at the site, according to Ohio media reports.

ConAgra could offer Garner workers the chance to transfer to another site, Smith said. The company will also help workers find other jobs, and it is offering 20 scholarships worth $2,500 each for employees and their children.

The announcement of the plant's closure came as the economy continues to struggle. The Triangle's jobless rate rose to nearly 9 percent in December.

It dealt a tough blow to Garner, which was recently unsuccessful in luring a bakery to town. Northeast Foods, which supplies buns to McDonald's restaurants, chose instead to invest more than $25 million to build a bakery in Clayton. The company will create 84 jobs.

Watkins, the town manager, said it would have been nice to get Northeast Foods, but the company got more incentives in Johnston County. He hopes some ConAgra workers will land jobs at the bakery.

"If it's not going to be in Garner, that's the next closest town," he said.

Some workers, like Calvin Sanders, said they want to go back to school when their jobs at ConAgra end. Sanders, 36, of Raleigh, is considering enrolling in Wake Tech to study computer programming. Or he might earn a truck driver's license, he said.

Garner Mayor Ronnie Williams said the town will miss ConAgra. "It's a sad day for Garner," he said.

News Researcher Teresa Leonard contributed to this report.