050813 Swift Closes Nampa, Idaho Plant

Nampa, ID - The changing beef industry has cost more than 400 Nampa workers their jobs.

After more than a year of trying to survive through trying times, Swift & Co. has chosen to permanently close its cow processing plant because of market conditions. Officials said there are not enough cattle to support continued operations at the Nampa plant.

"We've had to shift our product to other plants," Swift spokesman Jim Herlihy said. "There was no solution in sight for Nampa -- it wasn't going to work."

The company earlier cut employment from 560 employees down to 408 after a case of mad cow disease was discovered in Canada, shutting down cattle sales to the United States.

Trade barriers left the plant with too few animals to process.

Although the U.S. Department of Agriculture opened the U.S. border to live Canadian cattle last month, the animals were still limited to those under 30 months of age. The Nampa plant only processes older animals.

"This is a very sad day for Swift & Co. and for more than 400 employees and their families in and around Nampa," Swift and Co. Chief Operating Officer Dennis Henley said. "We've worked hard over the past two years to sustain operations in Nampa without adequate cattle supplies, but we can't afford to any longer."

The company closed the plant two weeks ago because there weren't enough cows, and ultimately decided not to reopen it, Herlihy said.

"Employment has been dropping and operations have been dropping," Herlihy said. "Cow herds are moving further east."

Under the provisions of the federal Workers Adjustment Retraining Notification Act, Swift employees will continue to receive payroll for 60 days through Oct. 3. Herlihy said the company will contact state agencies to determine other services that will be available for Swift employees in Nampa.

Swift's human resources department is looking through its employment database to find jobs that might be available for the plant's workers.

Herlihy said that if the company has any jobs available at other sites, it will look at Nampa employees first.

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