Ketchup-maker Heinz is ceasing operations in Leamington on Friday, after more than 100 years of operating in the Ontario town.
The move affects some 740 full-time and approximately 500 seasonal employees, as well as local farmers and suppliers. Many worked their last shift at the plant on Thursday, and spent Friday completing paperwork and cleaning out their lockers.
As employees left the facility for the last time, they were escorted by a lone bagpiper.
Workers will be given two weeks鈥� pay for every year of service, CTV Windsor reported, as well as 52 weeks of health care and a bonus of $2,500.
鈥淗opefully they can find jobs between now and when those funds run out,鈥� Leamington Mayor John Paterson said Friday.
Last November, Heinz announced that it would close the plant. But in May, the company said it had reached an agreement that would keep the plant open under limited operations.
Heinz sold the land, the plant and all of the equipment to Highbury Canco Corp., which will manufacture Heinz tomato juice, beans and canned pasta.
It is 鈥渉eartbreaking鈥� to see Heinz leave the city after 105 years, Paterson told CTV News Channel.
鈥淏ut at the same time, especially from the mayor鈥檚 chair, having Highbury Canco step up as a new Canadian firm taking over the property and hiring people back, I think the majority of people in Leamington are relieved and looking much more positively at our future than had it been a complete closure.鈥�
The new operation will create about 250 jobs, and production will begin this summer.
Highbury Canco has previously said that it may eventually replace most if not all of the lost jobs, CTV鈥檚 Sacha Long reported.
But some employees may not return to work at the plant at all, something the City of Leamington has been preparing for, Paterson said.
The city will take a 鈥渟ignificant鈥� hit on property taxes, which has been factored into the 2014 budget, he said. And the local economic development corporation has helped supply chain businesses that worked with the plant create new business plans.
