Mayor of Lancaster Stuart Harper says employees at the city’s Saputo cheese plant were informed of the facility’s closure only a day before the public announcement.
“I mean, the employees weren’t told until the day before I was called,’ Mayor Harper said. “On Wednesday of the week that they announced this, the employees were told and I wasn’t told till the next morning. So, there was no way that we could prepare for this.”
The Canadian dairy maker is closing plants in both Grant and Lafayette counties, impacting nearly 300 Wisconsin workers. Those affected will be offered a severance package or a position at another Saputo facility.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gray/SEELRUCCSNHOFJ5PRJOXJ6XPSQ.jpg "Lancaster community blindsided by cheese plant closure 1")
“This was made as a decision by a large corporation in Canada, to close down a facility that will dramatically affect the people of Grant County,” Mayor Harper said.
He says prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the city and company talked about expanding the Lancaster facility.
“We had offered them land at a dollar for a lot and they were gonna be purchasing multiple lots and be expanding. We were even willing to talk about closing down a street so they could expand their facility.”
He says after the discussions, the company stopped responding.
“Well, it’s one of those things that it was a corporation that was trying to keep secrets, you know, and they don’t want to reveal things before it’s convenient for them.”
Mayor Harper says now, all the community can hope for is that Saputo sells the property, allowing the city to fill the hole the company’s departure is leaving.
“I would like to challenge Saputo to get out there and get it on the market and the city, we will work very hard to get it sold and up and productive again. The faster we can do that, the less impact there will be on the city and on the, the greater Grant County community.”
Operations at the Lancaster facility will close by the end of March, according to Saputo.
NBC15 reached out to Saputo officials for an interview, and they told us to send them questions. As of 6:30 p.m., they have not answered our questions or sent a statement on the closure.
