May Garden

ARCHBOLD, Ohio - A year ago, packaged-food maker ConAgra Foods Inc. gathered its employees at Sauder Village to tell them the canning facility would close within months to cut costs. The company used the same location yesterday to make another unexpected announcement: The plant that makes Healthy Choice soup and La Choy products won't be shuttered, and the 300 to 350 workers will keep their jobs. The reversal occurred after executives determined the plant was more important to company operations than initially realized, spokesman Stephanie Childs said. Employees reacted to the announcement with cheers and applause. "It is something that I have never experienced," said union official Dale Parker, who represents workers at the plant in Fulton County about 50 miles southwest of Toledo. "Employees were ecstatic," said Mr. Parker of Toledo Local 911 of the United Food & Commercial Workers. "It was a very emotional day." "Now I don't have to look for a new job," employee Pat Severence, who has worked 27 years at the plant, said. "I can look forward to retiring from the plant." Ms. Severence of Bryan and her co-workers were given the day off with pay. The news wasn't so good for 100 workers at a ConAgra plant in Perrysburg Township on Glenwood Road off State Rt. 795. Executives will follow through on announced plans to shut the factory Nov. 30. The closing in Archbold was initially set for January but was postponed until May and then November. In an effort to save the plant, employees pulled together to boost productivity, the union representative said. "That made a big difference and carried a lot of weight, in my opinion, in the decision," he said. "They were running well over 80 percent efficiency on a daily basis." Veteran workers at the Archbold plant, which operates two production shifts, are paid $15 to $23 an hour, plus about $10 an hour in benefits, according to union leaders. "This is very good news and resounds certainly beyond Archbold and into the many communities that surround us," said Jim Wyse, Archbold mayor. The village last month discounted the plant's water rates in hopes of averting the closing and convincing officials to bring in new work. "This means that we will retain our largest water customer," the mayor said, noting the facility uses 20 million gallons a month. "From the village's perspective, that is a huge thing." For now, the company isn't talking about boosting production in Archbold. But "we see new opportunities for our canning manufacturing operation," the ConAgra spokesman said. Ann Bleikamp, who has worked at the plant for 25 years, doubts the plant could have been saved without the collective efforts of employees, managers, union leaders, and village officials. "A year ago I was devastated and today was a new beginning," she said. "We put our minds together to make the best of the situation and work together." Contact Mark Reiter at markreiter@theblade.com or 419-724-6096.