$100K Due Peabody To Plan For Rousselot Exit In MA House Budget

PEABODY, MA — Peabody could receive $100,000 towards planning for the departure of Rousselot Inc. — the city's second-largest employer that announced plans to close its plant earlier this year — after the appropriation was passed as part of the state House of Representatives budget this week.

The amendment still must be included in the Senate's budget and signed by Gov. Maura Healey.

Rep. Thomas Walsh (D-Peabody) and Rep. Sally Kerans (D-Danvers) cosponsored the amendment to provide Peabody with the funding.

"With Rousselot announcing their plan to wind down operations by the end of the year, my first concern is for Rousselot's employees and their families," Walsh said in a statement to Patch. "A longtime employer and fixture of the city, Rousselot and the city have worked together collaboratively over the decades, executing contracts, sales, and leases.

"With this amendment, I want to ensure that the city will be in the best position as Rousselot moves out."

Rousselot, which holds hundreds of acres of property between South Peabody and downtown, plans to close its operations by the end of the year.

Nearly 100 people were employed at the Washington Street gelatin- and collagen-production plant at the time of the announced closing in February.

Mayor Bettencourt told Patch at the time that his office would be organizing a team that will work with the company during the transition.

"My focus as always will be on protecting the best interests of Peabody residents and taxpayers," Bettencourt said.

Rousselot has been a Tanner City tenant since expanding their operations to Peabody in 2011.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)