Monday, April 30, 2007

Another one bites the dust ....

Four down ... how many in Mexico ?

You heard it here first ... Hershey is closing another factory, this one in Oakdale, CA. The similarities between Smiths Falls and Oakdale are uncanny ...

The factory is Hershey's only one on the West Coast and has been a tourist attraction and employer in Oakdale since it opened in 1965.

The plant employs 575 workers who make Hershey Bars, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and other sweets. However, recently it has been operating at 40 percent capacity.

The plant has an annual payroll of $27 million and injects another $27 million into the Modesto area's economy through the purchase of materials and services.

Last week the company announced it was closing two other plants, one in Connecticut and another in Reading, Pennsylvania.

The annual Oakdale Chocolate Festival, scheduled for May 19-20 and featuring many News10 anchors, will go on as planned. Mary Guardiola, the Chief Executive Officer of the festival, says that they plan to have the popular local event continue for years to come.

Hey ... I wonder if they have any dumb plans to keep The Chocolate Shoppe open after the plant closes too ???

RELATED: This is nice ...Last week's announcement in Connecticut didn't go so smooth.

Parent company did not handle the closing gracefully. Most of the 220 workers at the plant first learned about the decision from a page 1 story in the Waterbury Republican American published hours before the company bothered to tell them that their jobs would be moving to Virginia, or Mexico.


A bitter, not sweet, end to a rich manufacturing legacy in the Valley.

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