Butterball to close Montgomery plant, cuts 600 jobs

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Butterball is closing its Montgomery facility and laying off 600 workers by July. | Brian Hill/Daily Herald staff photographer

Butterball LLC said Thursday it will close its bacon processing plant in Montgomery and cut about 600 full-time jobs by July 17.

North Carolina-based Butterball said the closure is due to “changing market conditions” and “consumer needs.”

About four years ago, Butterball bought Montgomery-based Gusto Packing Co., a maker of pork and turkey products under private labels for retail and food services nationwide. At that time, Butterball said it was looking to use the family-owned business to support its geographic expansion plan and manufacture innovative products.

Gusto, founded in 1972, operates at 2125 Rochester Drive, in Montgomery, located near Aurora.

Overall, the 60-year-old Butterball has about 7,000 employees who produce about 1 billion pounds of turkey products annually with processing facilities in North Carolina, Arkansas and Missouri. Once Montgomery closes its 260,000-square-foot facility, Butterball will no longer have processing plants in Illinois.

Read more about about Butterball’s closing at the Daily Herald.

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