“This is a tough decision for us, but it’s necessary to promote future growth,” said Margaret Standing, Bob Evans director for corporate communications.
Closing the two plants is to consolidate work and reposition resources, she said, as the company follows long-term plans for Bob Evans food offerings — which involves focusing on packaged side dishes and convenience foods.
Standing said the 110 or so employees who are affected by the closures — 52 of which are in Springfield’s production plant at 2110 W. Jefferson St. — will be offered comprehensive packages with severance pay and benefits.
The company also will try to place those who are interested in other parts of the company, she said.
A Bob Evans’ distribution center operated by Millard Refrigerated Services in AirPark Ohio won’t be affected by the closure.
Officials broke ground on the new Springfield transportation center just last week.
It promises 110 jobs when it is complete late this year, most of which will be truck drivers. But most of those jobs will go to transfers from Michigan’s transportation center, said Standing.
Tom Franzen, city economic development administrator, said it’s a slight concern that most of the jobs will be transfers, but that attracting new people to the community is also a good thing.
However to gain several new jobs only to lose more of them is a typical economic development challenge, Franzen said.
“These are great jobs,” Franzen said. “The food industry is one we value highly in the community.”
He said food industry jobs help regulate the employment sector because those jobs are not cyclical, like manufacturing jobs can be.
Horton Hobbs, vice president of economic development for the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce, said it’s disappointing and unexpected that the company is closing its plant.
“They still have a strong presence locally and we’ll continue to work with them,” Hobbs said.
Job and Family Services of Clark County had not yet been alerted of the closing Tuesday afternoon, but deputy director Lehan Peters said she would put out an alert to assemble a Rapid Response Team to talk to the employees there.
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