MILAN, MISSOURI - A poultry processing plant that had been scheduled to close Tuesday was purchased by an Atlanta company and will remain open. <br>
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Cherokee Foods will operate the northern Missouri plant under an agreement with Milan Poultry Inc. and ConAgra, said Lenna Gordon, president of Cherokee Foods. <br>
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ConAgra announced in 2001 that it would end its contract for poultry deboning operations at Milan, erasing more than 500 jobs from a community of about 2,000 residents. <br>
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The plant will be open Monday but its operations, staffing and product production will be changed, the firm said in a news release. <br>
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The company said it has not determined how many workers will be kept on during the transition period but that all current employees will be invited to submit applications beginning Monday. <br>
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``As business conditions allow, Cherokee Foods intends to absorb more workers and could employ an even great number than were to be laid off, leading to positive economic consequences for Milan, Sullivan County and the greater region,'' the company said in its news release. <br>
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Part of the sale agreement with ConAgra includes continued processing of certain products during the transition period, as well as use of equipment used by ConAgra, Gordon said. <br>
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The Milan operation is Cherokee's first wholly owned poultry products processing plant. The company formerly used contract producers and packagers to fill orders for its national food distribution network. <br>
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Atlanta-based Cherokee Foods processes commodity foods for schools, health care facilities, the military and prisons in the United States.
