MA Meat Packager To Lay Off 190 Employees, Close Facilities

SPRINGFIELD, MA — Almost 200 Massachusetts employees will lose their jobs this year as a meat packaging company in Springfield is set to close.

Smithfield Packaged Meats Corp. filed a WARN notice with the state, claiming it would lay off 190 employees sometime between Apr. 10 and Sep. 11. The meat processing, packaging and distribution company began in 1936, and has locations nationwide.

Smithfield's Springfield facility produces dry sausage and lunch meat, according to its website. The closest plants are in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, with others across the country.

Just last month, the company paid more than $138,000 in penalties after the EPA said its Springfield facility violated the Clean Air Act. The violations arose from ammonia management practices at the facility, the EPA said.

A company spokesperson told Boston.com that the violation is unrelated to the company's decision to close the Springfield facility.

Smithfield also told the news outlet that its Springfield production will be transferred to other packaged meats facilities and that it will offer transition support to affected employees, as the plant will officially cease production in August.

Related: 260 MA Employees Face Layoffs Amid Rising Financial Pressures

This comes just as three other companies have announced layoffs in Massachusetts this year. Panera Bread, Zipcar and Thermo Fisher Scientific will lay off some 260 employees after filing Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice with the state.

The hundreds of layoff notices come as Massachusetts residents and businesses continue to face financial pressures. A leader at the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance told the Boston Herald that this comes as the state becomes more expensive, unpredictable, and hostile to employers.

See Also:

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