Farley’s & Sathers to close

• Farley’s & Sathers

brian korthals/Daily Globe In this January 15, 2010 file photo, workers at Farley’s & Sathers packaging department in Round Lake exit their workplace one final time. On Monday, Ferrara Candy Co., Inc., announced the closure of the Round Lake headquarters, with remaining jobs to be phased out over the course of the next 10 months.

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ROUND LAKE — Employees of the Farley’s & Sathers Round Lake facility learned in a morning meeting Monday that the company founded in Round Lake more than 75 years ago will no longer have a presence in Nobles County.

The news comes one week after an announced merger was completed between Farley’s & Sathers owner Catterton Partners and Ferrara Pan, a Chicago-based candy company.

In a statement issued by the newly named Ferrara Candy Co., Inc., the business made “a number of important, but difficult, changes to the company’s organizational structure, which will primarily impact our operations in Round Lake and Chattanooga, Tenn.”

With the headquarters of the new Ferrara Candy Co. based in Chicago, the Farley’s & Sathers main office will close in a phased process that will begin this summer and continue through the spring of 2013. Job cuts will start as early as August. Estimates are that 50 to 100 employees work at the Round Lake facility.

At the same time, the packaging and distribution functions in Chattanooga will be consolidated into existing facilities within the newly combined network. As a result, the Cummings Road facility in Chattanooga will be closed this fall, as will the Sather Trucking Company based in Chattanooga.

“These transitions are a logical result of the merger,” Ferrara Candy Co. officials stated in the press release. “Together, we are creating a leading general line candy manufacturer that is more efficient and well-positioned to grow faster and take innovation to the next level.

“Unfortunately, this impacts positions in Round Lake and Chattanooga. We value the dedication and hard work of all of our employees and are committed to providing assistance to ease the transition for those affected, including providing severance, outplacement services and internal opportunities,” it continued. “We will also be working closely with local government officials and state agencies to identify new potential opportunities.”

Round Lake Mayor Keith Stubbe said Monday’s news leaves a lot more questions to be answered.

“At this time, we do not have the complete details on what Ferrara Pan has in mind for the property in Round Lake,” he said. “They’ve been pretty secretive about all of this as time has gone along.”

The first major wave of job cuts at Farley’s & Sathers came in January 2010, after approximately 175 full-time and additional part-time positions were eliminated in the packaging and warehousing departments, as well as the fleet operations.

The impact from those cuts was significant on the community, Stubbe said, and leaves him wondering what will be impacted next.

“Because of the area that Farley’s and Sathers draws its employees from, the closing is a low blow to not only Round Lake, but also to Nobles County and southwest Minnesota,” he said.

There are a number of homes already for sale in Round Lake, Stubbe said, although he didn’t know just how many were on the market as a result of the changes that have taken place at Farley’s & Sathers over the past two years. He’d like to see something occupy the large warehouses and offices that will be vacated over the course of the next year.

“Round Lake, as a community, will be aggressively pursuing any options to occupy the premises,” Stubbe said.

Officials with Farley’s & Sathers Round Lake office would not comment on questions pertaining to Monday’s announcement.

Daily Globe Reporter Julie Buntjer may be reached at 376-7330.

Tags: farley’s & sathers, job cuts, news, closing, announcement, merger