MOORE, Okla. – The plant called Fresh Creative Foods, previously known as Vaughan Foods, will be closing in two months.
Nearly 400 people work there and production is being moved out of Oklahoma.
“According to the letter that the employees received, the company had said on or by December 1st 2017, so really here within the next few months,” said Deidre Ebrey, Director of Marketing and Economic Development.
The city tells us all 367 workers received the letter detailing the layoffs.
“It’s horrible news to get, but we’re just hopeful that the company will step up and make sure that there’s plenty of time for those folks to figure out what skills they have, what those can transfer over to. And then we can give them a lot of opportunities for jobs that they can grow into,” said Ebrey.
Vaughan Foods sold its company to Fresh Creative Foods in 2011 making it a large employer for the city of Moore.
But the plant was left with a black eye in 2014, when Alton Nolen beheaded coworker Colleen Hufford and stabbed another coworker, Traci Johnson.
Hufford died from her injuries, and Johnson survived.
The company sent this statement to News 4:
“In order to provide the best products and service to our Midwest customers, we are consolidating production from multiple Midwest facilities to our new 300,000 sq’ facility in the region. The new plant was designed to provide enhanced flexibility and expanded capacity, and is located in close proximity to our Midwest distribution hub.”
As a result, the Moore, OK facility will close on December 1, 2017. This was a difficult decision and one made only after careful consideration. We are grateful to the men and women at the Moore, OK plant for their service, and are committed to supporting their transition – whether it is continued employment at one of our other facilities, training assistance, or other job placement aid.”
City officials said this could have a negative effect on the local economy.
“So, we will certainly see a loss of that, but our hope is that there’s enough jobs, available jobs. And again, I’m super excited about our market right now, and the economy that’s growing here,” Ebrey said.
The city of Moore will be helping host a job fair across the metro in efforts to help these employees get back on their feet.
“Ran a real quick cursor of the jobs that have been posted in Cleveland County and they’re are 9,300 open jobs. Again, not all of those jobs will meet the criteria, those folks won’t meet the criteria for those jobs, but that’s a really good number to start with,” Ebrey said.
The company will consolidate production from multiple facilities to a new one in Topeka, Kansas.
