Basic American Foods to close Shelley plant and small facility in Blackfoot

Basic American Foods (BAF) announced Tuesday its intention to phase out its manufacturing operations at its Shelley facility and its Basic American Ingredients facility in Blackfoot.

BAF’s recently expanded, main facility in Blackfoot will remain open.

The realignment will affect 200 workers in Shelley and 100 employees in Blackfoot. However, a Basic American Foods spokesperson said the company hopes many of those will find employment opportunities in expanded facilities in Blackfoot or Rexburg.

This comes at the same time the company is investing in a significant expansion and improvement project at BAF’s Rexburg facility. Officials say the closures in Shelley and Blackfoot will ultimately allow BAF to grow and optimize its business for the future.

“As with any project that impacts people, these are difficult decisions,” CEO Bryan Reese said. “We are very mindful of the impact these changes will have – particularly on our employees. As our employees and others would expect from BAF, we will help those who are impacted through their transitions.”

The closure process will occur over the next two years with a big portion of both plants anticipated to shut down toward the end of February 2020. The plan is to continue packaging operations at the Shelley facility until the middle of 2021. Warehousing and storage operations are expected to continue in Shelley.

Basic American Foods reinforced its commitment to help impacted employees and is coordinating local services and offering a severance pay plan to help with the transition.

“It is very tough to make a decision to close a manufacturing facility,” Chief Supply Chain Officer Shaun Young said. “This consolidation was necessary for the overall efficiency and long-term stability of our supply network. We regret any negative impact this may have on our employees and the community.”