A spokeswoman says Gov. Scott Walker didn’t learn of the closure until Wednesday.
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Soglin said the decision will have a ripple effect across the region. The existing plant will be closed within one to two years when the new facility is completed, the company said. “How you make a good situation out of this is hard”.
Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, mirrored Soglin’s sentiments and said the the city will employ the resources available at the county, state and federal level.
About 700 Oscar Mayer production jobs and 300 corporate positions in Madison will be eliminated.
The other factories that are closing are in Fullerton and San Leandro, Calif; Federalsburg, Md.; Campbell, New York; Lehigh Valley, Penn.; and Madison, Wis.
The company is planning a new manufacturing facility near Davenport, Iowa, where production from the Madison plant is to be moved, according to the letter to employees.
Oscar Mayer’s history in Madison dates back to 1919.
Oscar Mayer first opened in Madison in 1919 and the city has been the company’s headquarters since 1957.
In a letter from Kraft-Heinz, company leaders said a few workers will have the option to transfer.
“Eventually, we will have to recover those costs from the rest of our customers and so nothing will happen immediately, but when we apply for our next rate increase in 2017, those impacts will have to figure into that”, Heikkinen says.
WEDC spokesman Steven Michels said that in July of 2013, WEDC offered Kraft Foods $194,800 over three years for a planned investment in its Madison offices.
Kraft Heinz is closing down seven plants in North America.
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Since then Oscar Mayer has become known for its cold cuts, its “My bologna has a first name, it’s O-S-C-A-R” jingle and its Wienermobiles, 27-foot-long vehicles shaped like hot dogs that travel the nation promoting the company. The rest of the plant’s approximately 1,200 employees would make the move to the company’s new headquarters in Chicago.
