Tyson Foods is closing Jordan's Meats, a major employer in Portland, Maine, for more than 40 years. The closure will result in the loss of 285 jobs.
Arkansas-based Tyson says the 65,000-square-foot plant it acquired three years ago will be closed Feb.1. Workers at the plant and its distribution center in South Portland, which also is being closed, will be encourage to seek jobs at other Tyson locations, the company said.
The sliced meats and cooked roast beef produced at the plant and marketed primarily under the Jordan's and Kirschner labels will continue to be sold in the region, but will be made at Tyson plants in New York, Iowa, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin.
Tyson, the world's largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef, and pork, took over the plant through its 2001 acquisition of IBP Inc.