SPRINGFIELD — Smithfield Packaged Meats Corp. is closing its dry sausage facility in Springfield on Carando Drive with operations set to conclude in August.
The company told state labor officials it will lay off 190 workers starting in April with the last workers due to leave Sept. 11, according to a 60-day WARN , or Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, notice dated Friday.
"Production will be transferred to other Smithfield packaged meats facilities, which have the capacity to make these products to our same high standards of quality," wrote Ray Atkinson, senior director, external affairs for Smithfield in an emailed statement. "We are providing transition support and discussing options with employees at the Springfield location, including the possibility of applying for other positions with Smithfield."
Based in Smithfield, Virginia, the company is owned by a Chinese company, WH Group. It's the single largest producer of pork in the world, controlling around 23% of the entire U.S. pork market, according to published reports.
Last month, Smithfield announced its $450 million purchase of Nathan's Famous , including its branded hot dogs.
In September, Smithfield went public, selling stock on Nasdaq.
The Springfield plant was once Carando , founded in Springfield in 1933 by Peter Carando Sr. He sold it in 1968 to Di Giorgio Corp. of San Francisco. Farmland Foods bought Carando in 1991. Smithfield Foods bought Farmland Foods as it emerged from bankruptcy in 2003.
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