Johnsonville closes Momence plant, 274 jobs lost

MOMENCE – Johnsonville Foods, a longtime business mainstay on the north side of Momence, will only be a memory.

Officials from the Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin-based company informed a plant-wide gathering of employees on Monday in downtown Kankakee that the plant was closing its Momence operation, which eliminates 274 jobs.

The closure took place immediately.

Located in the northwest portion of the city just off of Mechanic Street, the meat production site, chiefly sausage, has been a part of the city’s fabric dating back until at least the 1950s.

Of the company’s total workforce, 221 were represented by the United Food & Commercial Workers Local 1546.

Workers were told they would receive two months of pay as compensation.

The company only informed the Illinois Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notice of layoff on Monday.

Company officials said the production at the site would be absorbed by other Johnsonville sites.

A call to Johnsville’s global headquarters has been made.

This is just the latest blow to Momence employment.

After a fire damaged substantially significant portions of its chocolate-mixes manufacturing site, Gilster Mary Lee officials announced they would not be rebuilding its Momence location, costing the community 80-90 jobs.

Mayor Chuck Steele said he was only notified of the Johnsonville’s pending announcement about 15 minutes before employees were told.

“They said they were closing the plant permanently. They are going to remove some equipment and demolish it,” Steele said. “It’s very, very sad to have this many local residents losing jobs.”

Steele said officials explained the company was “streamlining” its operations.

Ironically, the company has recently invested in excess of $1 million at the site, adding new equipment, a new roof and parking lot.

“This just comes as a total surprise,” Steele added. “An announcement like this totally catches you off guard. Losing 280 jobs is not an easy thing to overcome. ... This is a tough pill to swallow.”

Tim Nugent, president and CEO of the Economic Alliance of Kankakee County, was equally shocked by the news.

He said he had visited the plant about two weeks ago to gain some insight on how the company was doing. He said the recently-transferred plant manager gave no indication anything was taking place.

“This [news] is an absolute shock,” Nugent said.

In April, Johnsonville recalled nearly 23,000 pounds of cheddar-flavored bratwurst produced in Momence on Feb. 5 due to potential contamination with foreign material, specifically hard plastic.

The products were shipped to retail locations in Georgia, Indiana, Michigan, Kansas, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, Ohio and Minnesota.