CONNELL, Wash. – The recent closure of the Lamb Weston potato plant in Connell left about 375 employees without jobs on short notice.
The closure, as announced by Lamb Weston in a news release, is due to “a supply and demand imbalance in North America and an ongoing inflationary environment,” leading to the end of production on September 30. Shutdown operations have been underway.
One former worker described receiving a text from the company saying, “Important. All employee meeting today, October 1, at 1 p.m. Not mandatory. Please meet in front of the plant entrance for an important company update.”
During the meeting, it was announced that the plant would close permanently. An employee described the meeting, saying, “They had all of the security guards blocking all of the doors from anybody to go into the plant and the H.R., they came out with with a loudspeaker and said, the plant’s closed. You guys will no longer work for Lamb Weston.”
In response to the closure, Lamb Weston is organizing a job fair on October 8 in Kennewick to help former employees find new positions within the company. The company also plans to host an external job fair to introduce other job opportunities.
Despite these efforts, some employees express doubt about securing new roles, noting the application process as a challenge.
“Even though I’ve been working with the company for 34 years, I couldn’t just go down to the Pasco plant and say, yes, I want this mechanics job. No, you got to go through the job application level. You know, just like you starting out right off the street,” a former employee said.
Lamb Weston assures that affected employees will receive a 60-day severance package, providing full wages. The job cuts account for about four percent of Lamb Weston’s total workforce of approximately 10,700 employees.