Smithfield Foods will close its Altoona, Iowa, ham boning facility and consolidate production volume at other locations to improve the efficiency of its manufacturing platform.
Smithfield will provide transition assistance to 314 employees at the facility who will be affected by the closure. The company will meet with employees to provide additional details about the transition plan, including severance, financial incentives to assure business continuity and potential employment opportunities with Smithfield.
“We appreciate the good work our Altoona employees have done over the years and are committed to supporting every employee through this transition,” said Doug Sutton, chief manufacturing officer for Smithfield Foods.
“We have been successful in retaining many of our people in positions with Smithfield during previous consolidations and will provide information about opportunities at other Smithfield locations.”
Production from Smithfield’s Altoona facility will be consolidated into current company facilities in Monmouth, Illinois; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and Crete, Nebraska.
Smithfield employs about 4,000 people in Iowa at its farms and food-processing facilities in Carroll, Denison, Des Moines, Mason City, Orange City, Sioux Center and Sioux City.
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About Smithfield Foods
Headquartered in Smithfield, Virginia, since 1936, Smithfield Foods is a U.S. food company that employs more than 54,000 people in seven countries and partners with thousands of American farmers. Smithfield has a portfolio of brands, such as Smithfield, Eckrich, Gwaltney and Nathan’s Famous, among many others.
