Charles City, Iowa – The effects of the closing of Charles City’s chicken manufacturing plant – Simply Essentials – has forced Floyd County’s unemployment rate to jump.
Area Development Corporation Director Tim Fox says the numbers from the Iowa Workforce Development are troubling.
The California-owned company by Pittman Family Farms closed the plant in August eliminating 513 jobs.
Fox says they’re looking for potential buyers – and the search has moved overseas.
Other places like Mexico and Europe are suitable candidates for organic chicken production.
According to Fox, the facility could be sold by the end of the year, but the willingness of the owners he says is a sticking point.
Fox added several factors are contributing to a slow resurgence of interest in the plant.
Eighty percent of the workers worked more than 40 hours a week.
