Allen’s Inc., a vegetable processor, will permanently lay off seven employees at its Oconto Falls warehouse by Feb. 15, the Wisconsin Division of Workforce Development recently announced.
The Siloam Springs, Ark.-based firm will also lay off 100 employees at its Pulaski plant.
Allen’s cans vegetables under the Freshlike, Veg-All, Trappey’s, Allen’s and Popeye Spinach brands.
The company announced it will not transfer or reassign the laid off employees.
The Oconto Falls employees include the manager of the warehouse at 160 Hank Marks Drive, three supervisors and two machine operators, according to Allen’s Dec. 17 letter to the DWD.
Allen’s is undergoing reorganization under a Chapter 11 bankruptcy it filed in October and is looking to sell much of the 87-year-old firm. It initially listed assets between $100 million and $500 million and estimated debts of $279.9 million, according to the publication Arkansas Business.
Seneca Foods Inc., which has a plant in Gillett, has offered Allen’s $148 million to acquire substantially all of its assets, PR Newswire reported on Dec. 17. Seneca’s purchase agreement is pending bankruptcy court approval.
Calls to Seneca Foods about whether its proposal includes the Oconto Falls warehouse were not returned by deadline.
Questions about the employee layoffs were directed to James Phillips, an Allen’s vice president, who did not return a phone call before deadline
A call to Vicki Roberts, Oconto Falls city administrator, also was not returned before deadline.
The DWD provides assistance to workers, companies and communities affected by mass layoffs or business closings.
In Allen’s bankruptcy proceedings, three Wisconsin growers are among the largest unsecured creditors. Hartung Brothers, a Madison area-based grower, is reportedly owed $7.7 million. Paramount Farms, of Plainfield, and Worzella & Sons Inc., of Plover, claim Allen’s owes each of them more than $1 million, according to Arkansas Business.
The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection began default proceedings last month against Allen’s after receiving complaints about nonpayment for vegetables sold by several growers.
Twenty-two growers have sought a combined $10 million for nonpayment for vegetables sold to Allen’s, said Jim Dick, a DATCP spokesman.
The growers were mainly located in the central part of the state, he said.
DATCP will audit the claims and if verified, will reimburse the growers from the state’s Agriculture Producers’ Security Fund, at up to 80 percent of the value of their claim, Dick said.
In 2006, Allen’s purchased Birds-Eye Foods Inc., giving it a frozen foods line. It now wants to sell off the company, according to published reports about Allen’s bankruptcy filing.
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