City Reacts To Closing Of ConAgra Plant

After two months of waiting and wondering, employees of the Trenton ConAgra Plant heard the news they had been dreading: the plant is closing.
Employees were told of the impending closure at a meeting held early Wednesday morning at the plant. They had been gathered in January to learn that the Trenton plant was on a possible list for closure, but Wednesday’s announcement took away any hope that the plant had been spared as the company looks to remain competitive.
“Today we informed employees in the Trenton plant of our plans to close that facility in 2018,” said Dan Hare, a corporate spokesman for ConAgra. “The decision was made following a careful evaluation of our overall plant network. Closing the facility is necessary for the company to operate as efficiently as possible and remain competitive. The closure of the plant will result in the elimination of approximately 395 positions between June 2017 and summer of 2018.”
Community Developer Ralph Boots said that the city is “saddened by the news” that the plant is being closed, “especially after our efforts to contact corporate to come up with a solution.”
Since the possibility of closing the plant was first made public nearly a month ago, Boots said city officials have been working to come up with solutions that could provide ConAgra with various incentives in an effort to make its operations in Trenton more viable to the company as a whole.
“Since the first announcement, (we have been) meeting with local, county and regional stakeholders as well as the Missouri Department of Economic Development to develop incentives that would encourage investment in labor, building and equipment,” he said. “the city and state have reached out multiple times to (ConAgra) corporate to set up meetings to offer those incentives to maintain their operations in Trenton.”
With the announcement on Wednesday, Boots said city officials have begun reaching out to state resources and economic development resources to address the situation, which will have not only a huge economic impact on the city itself, but the families whose members are employed local by the plant.
“(We are) making a concerted and focused effort to identify options for the plant,” Boots said, adding that the city and its partners are developing a response plan as the process continues to unfold.
“City representatives will continue to be persistent to meet with ConAgra officials while exploring all other options,” Boots said. “The city will remain positive as it works with all stakeholders in the community, along with state and federal agencies. We are still optimistic that whether its ConAgra or other prospects, that a solution is achievable for our community, our region and our state.”
Boots went on to say that Trenton is a “tight-knit community with a dedicated and hardworking workforce.”
“Many employees at the ConAgra plant have worked there for more than 25 years,” he said. “any company would be proud to have that type of commitment from their employees.”
ConAgra, which is moving its world headquarters from Omaha, NE to Chicago, IL this summer, started in 1919 as Nebraska Consolidated Mills. In 1971, it was named ConAgra, Inc. and became ConAgra Foods in 2000. The company employs more than 20,000 people.