General Mills plant in New Albany to close next year

A worker at the plant confirmed to the News and Tribune that employees have been notified that efforts by the city to help keep the plant open and its about 400 workers on the job weren’t successful.

The employee, who spoke on a condition of anonymity, said union members were told the news early Thursday at a meeting. The cookie line at the plant is expected to close in April or May of this year, and employees on that line will be given the option of leaving with their severance package at that time.

All other employees will have to wait until they are formally dismissed to receive their severance. That will likely happen at the beginning of January when three more production lines are shut down.

The employee stated that to give people incentive to stay until all lines are closed, Pillsbury is offering monthly bonuses. If an employee leaves on their own, they will not receive any of the incentives.

Like many co-workers, the employee makes about $25 an hour.

The closing was confirmed by Roger Miller, president of Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Local 33G, in a report by news partner WAVE 3 News.

Miller said some employees will get $1-per-hour raises and about 25 percent of them will still be able to retire with full pension and health insurance coverage for life, WAVE reported. Others will have the option to relocate within the company.

Pillsbury said it will save $31 million a year by moving its operation to two nonunion facilities.

Last month, the New Albany City Council approved a $7 million bond, proposed by Mayor Jeff Gahan, to try and keep General Mills open in New Albany.

The New Albany plant manufactures refrigerated baked goods, and has been operated by General Mills since 1959.

For a previous report, Uric Dufrene, professor of finance at Indiana University Southeast, said the Pillsbury plant offered high-paying jobs and called the then-potential closure a “major blow for the region.”

“Pillsbury has been a valuable corporate citizen,” he said. “Perhaps there may be an opportunity for another company to buy the assets there and locate operations in New Albany.”

If another industry took over the plant, it could minimize the damage, Dufrene said. But he added he’s unsure of the prospects of another company purchasing the property.

Councilman Pat McLaughlin said Thursday he hadn’t received direct confirmation from General Mills that the deal had been refused. Mayor Jeff Gahan declined to comment on the situation Thursday afternoon.

A call to General Mills’ media relations department in Minnesota on Thursday for comment was not returned by press time.