The city’s oldest major dairy processing plant will close by the end of May, more than 75 years after its opening heralded the rise of the milking industry in Hopkins County.
Morningstar Foods announced this morning it will close its Cultured Specialties plant located at 500 Jackson St. Production will be phased out over the next few months, with the closing date expected by May 24.
The closing of the plant will eliminate approximately 55 jobs according to a statement released by Morningstar.
Morningstar Plant Manager Joe Wallace said the decision was a tough one.
“We regret the impact that this decision will have on our employees and our community,” Wallace said. “The decision to eliminate jobs in any part of our business is never an easy one. We operate in a highly competitive marketplace, so we must run our business in the most efficient way possible.”
The announcement also emphasized the closing will in no way affect the Morningstar plant on East Industrial Drive that produces the extended-shelf life products such as coffee creamers and soft-serve ice cream mixes.
“This decision does not relate to the Morningstar plant at all,” Wallace said. “Our facility continues to grow, it is more modern, and we continue to put a lot of capital into the plant.”
In a meeting Thursday afternoon with city and county officials Morningstar representatives said the closing was a part of the ongoing effort to make parent company Dean Foods as competitive and efficient as possible. The amount of capital that would be required to bring the plant up to scale, modernizing it and making it more efficient, could not be justified financially.
A Morningstar spokesman said the plant closing comes down to running a plant more efficiently on more modern equipment and has nothing to do with the quality of the products produced at the facility.
“They had some of the best sour cream and cottage cheese Dean Foods produces,” the spokesman said. “It just boils down to running fast and running efficient.”
Hopkins County Judge Chris Brown, who also serves as the chief elected official on the Northeast Texas Workforce Development Board, said Morningstar would be working to assist the affected workers.
“The situation we have here is just unfortunate,” Brown said. “The company is strong and is doing everything they can to take care of those 55 employees, and there may be some jobs they can apply for at the Morningstar plant.”
The judge said the Workforce Development Board will also work to help the displaced workers. He expects the Texas Workforce Commission to offer assistance, as well.
“Morningstar is taking a very pro-active approach to helping as many people as they can and will partner that effort with the Workforce Board and, hopefully, have everybody relocated,” the judge said. “We will do all we can to help them out.”
Sulphur Springs City Manager Marc Maxwell said the plant closing will have an impact on the local economy, but he was also optimistic about the future.
“It's certainly unfortunate — there's no way to cast a better light on it. I am sure there will be some impact to the economy but a much greater impact to the families who are experiencing the layoffs.” he said. “I am very optimistic that there is enough [jobs] in the pipeline that's coming to town to more than offset the loss.”
The 57,500 square foot plant was built in 1935 for the Carnation Company, the first industry in the city, which manufactured evaporated milk in various sizes. Expansions in 1960 and 1991 brought the size to 69,484 square feet. Carnation used the facility until December 1978.
Borden Milk bought the facility in early 1979 and started revitalizing the production as a manufacturer of cottage cheese. Within a few years, the plant expanded production to sour cream, yogurt, half-and-half creamers, non-dairy creamers, orange and apple juice, aseptic juices and flavored milk.
A shutdown of the facility was averted in 1997. Milk Products LLC purchased the property that year, then in November announced it would be closing the facility, citing economic costs on some of the production lines.
But the dogged determination of people in Hopkins County who kept beseeching helped the new owners to reverse its decision to shut down the facility and its 60 jobs.
"They said they were overwhelmed by phone calls and correspondence from people trying to help and to find out what they could do to stop the shutdown," said then Sulphur Springs-Hopkins County Economic Development Corp. Executive Vice President John Prickette Jr.
The number of jobs dropped to 34 and the plant returned to producing only cultured dairy products, including cottage cheese and sour cream, but it remained open.
In September 1999, the facility was sold to Suiza Foods, and the plant became part of the Morningstar Foods division.
In May 2000, the plant became part of the Southwest region of Suiza Foods, changing its name to Sulphur Springs Cultured Specialties.
In August 2008, the plant returned to the Morningstar division, producing sour cream and cottage cheese.
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