Alex Sanz/Eyewitness News
Indianapolis, January 2, 2004 - Indianapolis is home to the country's best-known maker of kosher hot dogs. But it won't be for long. ConAgra Foods is closing its Hebrew National plant and moving it out of the state, putting hundreds out of work.
It is the end of an era for Hebrew National workers like Walter Shockley, with word this week he'd be out of a job by year's end.
"It feels kind of bad, so many years," Shockley said Friday. He's worked at the plant for a decade.
The move to close the plant caught workers, and the the city of Indianapolis, by surprise.
"It's not good that three hundred people could be out of work very soon," said city spokesman Steve Campbell, "but the silver lining is that they said it didn't have anything to do with the city or the business climate and that it was a business decision based on different facilities they have."
ConAgra is moving its operations to Quincy, in south-central Michigan.
"The Indianapolis facility is an older plant and would have required extensive capital investment to remain as a viable facility that would accommodate continuing growth in the Hebrew National brand," according a ConAgra spokesman.
The company made headlines in the mid-eighties when it left its home base in New York and moved to the west side of Indianapolis. The move created hundreds of jobs. Over the years, its workforce grew to become predominantly Latino. The plant was in the news again two years ago when a fire killed a rabbi on staff to maintain its kosher quality control.
The focus now, says Local 700 president Lew Piercy, is finding new jobs for the workers, many of whom are supporting families in other countries. "Our members are a great workforce over there," he said. "We will work with them and try to find them other jobs and get them trained to go on to other facets of their life."
ConAgra is discussing ways to help those laid off. One option includes transferring the workers to other ConAgra operations in Indiana. The city is also providing help through Workforce Development.
The plant which houses Hebrew National has changed hands a number of times over the years. At this point there is no turning back. As far as its future, ConAgra says it will sell the property once the doors are closed for good.
