Butterball Leaving Chicago Suburbs
(CBS) -- A major employer in west suburban Montgomery is preparing to leave the village by mid-July.
WBBM's Keith Johnson reports.
Butterball is shutting down its processing plant in Montgomery, which would put about 600 full-time employees out of work.
The North Carolina-based company says changing market conditions and consumer needs forced its hand.
The company says it will help place some affected workers who would be willing to move. It also will maintain its well-known Butterball help hotline, which employs 50 people in Naperville.
Butterball purchased the former Gusto Packing in 2013 and made improvements with financial assistance from the village.
"Gusto Packing was a long-time, family owned business and when Butterball purchased the plant and made improvements, we anticipated that they would be operating their business here for many years to come. The employees have been very loyal to this facility for a long time, and the sudden closure comes as a shock to them and to us," Village President Matt Brolley said in a prepared statement.
It's the second major blow to the Aurora-area community. Earlier this year, Caterpillar Inc. announced it was phasing out production at its Montgomery plant and moving those functions to other factories.
