'Shocked and saddened': Quaker closing stuns community

Apr. 4—DANVILLE — Quaker Oats employees and their families, in addition to city, county, state and federal officials and others, continue to evaluate what's next after this week's unexpected announcement that the Quaker manufacturing plant in Danville that employs more than 500 people will be closed in June by owner PepsiCo.

"I didn't know anything," Danville Mayor Rickey Williams Jr. said about the surprising closing announcement this week.

Williams began hearing rumors about the plant from friends who work there about six weeks ago.

Following a Quaker product recall in December 2023, production was paused at the Danville facility.

The Quaker Oats Company of Chicago in December announced the recall of specific granola bars and granola cereals because they had the potential to be contaminated with salmonella, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

In January, the Quaker Oats Company announced an expansion of the Dec. 15, 2023, recall to include additional cereals, bars and snacks because they have the potential to be contaminated with salmonella.

Williams said he called and spoke with the then-plant manager, and government relations with the company also called him.

Williams said he was told by the company that they didn't know what was going on with the Danville plant and they've been working on getting things cleaned up. The hope was to get the plant opened again soon, Williams said he was told.

Williams also was to have a follow-up call with the company at the beginning of April. Williams said he was told on Tuesday that the plant was to bring workers back on Wednesday. Williams said he thought that was great news, thinking the workers were being told the plant was reopening.

"It was the exact opposite news," Williams said. "No one had any idea."

Quaker Oats said in a statement regarding the plant closure announcement this week, "After a detailed review, we determined that meeting our future manufacturing needs would require an extended closure for enhancements and modernization. In order to continue the timely delivery of Quaker products trusted by consumers since 1877, we determined production would need to permanently shift to other facilities."

Williams said he's asked company officials if there's something government entities can do to keep the plant here.

Williams said he'd talked with state Sen. Paul Faraci (D-Champaign), state Rep. Brandun Schweizer (R-Danville) and others who have Gov. JB Pritzker's ear directly to see what could be done.

"I knew we could possibly get some help," Williams said, but added unfortunately it sounds like the company's mind is made up and the decision is irreversible.

Williams said he was told no, that tax credits or other government help wouldn't be useful. He said company officials said unfortunately, even with substantial investment, they'd have to tear down the building and rebuild, leaving at least two years of having no production.

Williams said government entities "can only do so much" with possible city and other incentives to keep a business here.

Next Steps

As to next steps, Williams said there was a planned meeting at 4 p.m. Thursday with officials from the City of Danville, Danville Area Community College, Vermilion County Works and Vermilion Advantage "to discuss how do we move forward, and how we can help these employees and their families," Williams said.

He said there needs to be coordination and everyone working together.

Williams said he didn't know specifically how many local jobs are open currently in Vermilion County, but said in the past, Vermilion Advantage officials had reported more than 1,000 jobs available locally at times. Vermilion Advantage's Job Board had 72 open job positions posted on Thursday.

For the short-term impacts locally, Williams said the community is "shocked and saddened" at the plant closure news.

"This was very unexpected," he said, adding that it creates a lot of anxiety for these employees and their families.

Williams said a lot of people are comparing Quaker Oats' closure to General Motors' closure in the 1990s.

He said while this is bad, absolutely devastating, there's nothing compared to the close to 2,000 GM jobs being lost and with the succession of other facilities closing.

He said the good news after GM closed was more diversity of the economy in Danville.

"I think that will ultimately save us," Williams said. "There are lots of other good employers in Danville and Vermilion County (that) need quality employees who are looking for solid work.

"If we can match great employees with great employers, that might help some of the existing (job openings)," he said.

Williams said as for long term with the Quaker Oats site, the company has assured him that they will find someone to possibly reuse the site, or tear it down themselves, and not leave a building the city has to tear down.

"My hope is that we can possibly find someone to use it," Williams said.

Overall, he said the economic development response first will be determined locally, with the city's and others' help.

The city's website at www.cityofdanville.org also will have updated listings of all open city jobs in one location.

Vermilion Advantage has a job fair, Career Expo, at the David S. Palmer Arena in Danville on April 24.

Williams said the city has been giving away free bus passes to attend the expo.

Quaker employees have two more months of full pay, to be paid through June 8, and then they could apply for unemployment, he said.

Local employers, such as thyssenkrupp, also have been reaching out to employees regarding open positions, and Vermilion County Works' job center is ready to help.

"I feel we're in as good a place as we can be at the moment," Williams said of the assistance out there.

The Commercial-News has reached out to several Quaker Oats employees and their family members, but it's too soon to talk yet, they've said.

They're shocked, upset and confused.

They're nervous too because they haven't gotten severance news or told who will help close the plant, and they don't want to possibly cause worse impacts.

Former Danville alderman Lloyd Randle, a retired Quaker Oats employee of 35 years, said "this was indeed a gut punch" to the employees and city.

"No one really saw it coming," Randle said.

He said, "corporate decisions are driven by shareholder profits, and expectations almost always supersede the casualties when these decisions are made."

Randle encourages community leaders to be transparent with the dislocated workers. There is a lot of uncertainty with the employees and their entire lives' work has been wiped away.

He said local officials shouldn't send false hopes of the possibility of employment opportunities in the area.

"Those responsible for attracting new jobs must now begin to look at new businesses who have wanted to come to Danville but were fearful of a pool of trained, skilled workers," Randle said.

He said the city now has a pool of people who have proven their work effort and now need the collaboration of those to seek and retain jobs in the community.

Local economic development officials need to reach out to any possible new employer, he said.

"We have people ready now to come to work," Randle said.

Randle said he's made calls to U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly's office, Faraci and others to encourage them to reach out to others as high up as President Joe Biden.

Randle said the city may be able to take advantage of additional federal infrastructure and manufacturing money available to keep the jobs here.

In the short-term, Randle said the employees and their families will have to adjust their spending, which means mom and pop stores will suffer, and everyone will be rethinking their spending habits because of the uncertainty.

Randle estimates the average age of the employee at Quaker is 32 years old, and he estimates that 80 percent of Quaker employees don't live in Danville's city limits.

Some may be able to find other employment immediately, such as skilled laborers with electrical backgrounds and other trade union backgrounds, he said.

Some others may be able to pick up and move if they can, he said, but added they can have mortgages, school-age children, car loans, etc., and their savings could evaporate.