Maple Leaf closing Kitchener plant
Posted Oct 19, 2011 03:11:13 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Maple Leaf Foods has confirmed to 570 News that it will close its’ Kitchener plant, putting almost 1200 people out of work.
The Courtland Avenue plant is slated to close in 2014.
In a media conference held at the storied facility, Chief Strategy Officer, Doug Dodds appeared somber, “we deeply regret the impact these changes have on our people and the community of Kitchener. Our employees at the Courtland plant take great pride in the work that they do and the products that they make and we greatly respect the work that they do everyday.”
Dodds spoke of the the silver-lining, “the good news for Kitchener is that it’s a wonderful community, it’s a resiliant commuinity, it’s our intention to work hard with the community to find solutions that could create more good news, but this is a difficult day.”
Maple Leaf says it will work with the government and private sector to find alternate uses for the plant and property, and Dodds spoke of a conversation he had with Mayor of Kitchener, Carl Zehr, “and I have committed to him our desire to see a task force set up with the city and other business or government stakeholders to seek out alternative uses for these facilities that could provide future employment opportunities.”
For Maple Leaf, however, the facility idoesn’t allow the company to remain competitive, “the reality is the age, multi-storey configuration and physical constraints of this facility mean it cannot deliver the scale and efficiency needed in this industry.”
It’s all part of a $560-million restructuring plan.
The Toronto-based maker of processed meats and other foods says the changes are expected to improve its competitiveness and profitability in the near and longer terms.
Maple Leaf says it will build a new prepared meats facility in Hamilton and will also invest in plants in Winnipeg, Saskatoon and Brampton.
Here is part of a statement released by Mayor Zehr:
“On behalf of the City of Kitchener, I’d like to extend my deepest regrets to those affected by today’s announcement by Maple Leaf Foods, particularly the individuals and families within our community who have ties to the local J.M. Schneider plant.
The local meat-processing plant has provided employment for thousands of people – in some cases, generations of families – for more than 120 years. It is one of the last of the large, traditional manufacturers in our city.
While this is not solely a local issue as Maple Leaf Foods will be closing many other plants across the country, this is most definitely a tough day for Kitchener and Waterloo Region.
Immediately following Maple Leaf Foods’ announcement of its plan to review its network in 2010, the City of Kitchener, other local municipalities and the Region of Waterloo collectively contacted officials at the company’s head office to understand exactly what was happening. Since then, we have had frequent communications with Maple Leaf Foods, and we worked very aggressively in providing the company with options to develop a new plant locally. Upon reviewing those options, Maple Leaf Foods chose to build a new plant elsewhere.
I have already been in touch with our local MPP John Milloy and MP Stephen Woodworth, and we have begun discussions around working cooperatively to assist those individuals who will be affected by the plant closing and create an atmosphere for future employment and/or retraining opportunities.
At this point, however, I would like to thank all of the local employees for the years of dedicated service they have provided to our community; and I trust that Maple Leaf Foods will do everything it can to support their staff during this difficult transition process.”
