HERMISTON — The devastating fire last month at the Shearer’s Foods facility in Hermiston has led the company to end employment of the men and women who worked there. And the city is without a sure sign the company will rebuild.

Shearer’s Foods CEO Bill Nictakis made the announcement in a press release Tuesday, March 8.

“After assessing the damage, it’s clear that the destruction is too great to quickly rebuild and begin production in the near term,” according to Nictakis. “Unfortunately, it would take at least 15-18 months before we could resume production. We have not yet decided the future of the Shearer’s Hermiston site. This has led to the very difficult decision to end employment for our team members.”

The company has reported it employed 230 people at the plant.

Nictakis stated the company is “exploring opportunities to relocate team members interested in working in our other plants” and has “provided a severance and benefits continuation package to recognize the effort and tenure that has gone into making the site successful over the past years.”

He continued, “We will do everything we can to support our Shearer’s family during this transition.”

According to the press release, Shearer’s Foods has been teaming up with community organizations on projects, including food drives, family activities and job fairs, to benefit its former employees.

“We will continue to provide counseling services to those affected and will do what we can to help them find other employment,” the letter stated.

Nictakis ended the letter with thanks to local businesses and government representatives for their support.

“Please continue to put our Shearer’s Hermiston family in your thoughts through this difficult time,” Nictakis stated

This is a situation that has driven people to tears, according to Mark Gomolski, Agape House director.

Gomolski said Shearer’s supplied Agape House with a list of all of the Hermiston plant employees, and the nonprofit held a food drive Friday, March 4, for them. Gomolski said Community Action Program of East Central Oregon and the Oregon Food Bank supplied the food for the employees.

Large pallets of food lined the west end of the building going around to the east end on Friday, Gomolski said. The Shearer’s workers arrived at the Agape House, opened their vehicles and had them filled, he said.

There were 35 volunteers, Gomolski said, and seven of the volunteers came from Shearer’s.

The event, which was 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., provided food to 127 Shearer’s families, he said. Many of these people seemed very upset, Gomolski said.

“There were people crying as they were getting food here,” he said.

Gomolski said there is a possibility of holding another food drive in April.

Job fair coming next week

Since the start of the fire, local government has been in communication with Shearer’s to see what can be done. Mark Morgan, Hermiston assistant city manager, is one of those officials who has expressed a desire to help.

“We’ve been in coordination with the Shearer’s folks, as well as all of our other partners here on the state, local and federal level,” he said.

Morgan said the city has been working with the Hermiston Chamber of Commerce on its planned job fair. He said planning for the fair was delayed while waiting to find out whether Shearer’s would hold onto its employees and rebuild. Now that Shearer’s released those employees, the city and the chamber is pushing forward with the job fair.

“I’ve been in touch with all the wonderful companies in Hermiston,” Val Hoxie, executive director of the Hermiston Chamber of Commerce, said, as she helped organize the fair.

On Tuesday afternoon, she said 14 employers confirmed participation at the fair, and she said she expects more to join. Some participating companies, which will be looking for new employees, are Lamb Weston, Amazon, Tillamook, Rogers Toyota of Hermiston and Two Rivers Correctional Institution in Umatilla.

The job fair is March 16, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Hermiston Community Center, 415 S. U.S. Highway 395.

Employees enter a strong job market

Former Shearer’s workers may not be looking long for work, according to Craig Smith of Food Northwest.

He said Food Northwest did not have an association with Shearer’s. It does, however, have connections with several other local food processors around the region. Already, he said, he has heard a lot of eagerness in hiring the Shearer’s workforce.

“We have a lot of companies in that area that are looking for people,” he said, including Lamb Weston, Port of Morrow, Boardman Foods, Tillamook and Oregon Potato.

“There are some really large companies out there that are literally begging for employees,” he said.

He said the misfortune of losing jobs could become opportunities for people to find something new and better.

Hermiston looks to the future

Morgan expressed confidence the displaced laborers would find new work at the upcoming fair.

“I know there’s been significant interest from employers looking to hire some of these folks coming out of the Shearer’s facility,” Morgan said.

The assistant city manager also articulated his belief the community will recover.

“We’re strongly committed to making sure that we can see some reinvestment here in the community and that type of operation here as quickly as possible,” he said.

He also plugged Hermiston as an excellent place for business.

“I think it’s proven that our region has some of the best workforce,” he said, “as well as assets in the form of water and utilities needed for processing operations.”