After announcing plans
in January to shutter one of the plants at its Sheboygan County campus,
Johnsonville has reversed course and decided to keep its Meadowside facility open.
At the start of the year, the sausage maker said it had acquired Denmark, Wisconsin-based
Salm Partners. Salm Partners is a manufacturer of fully cooked sausage and hot dogs.
As part of that deal, Johnsonville acquired two production plants. The company planned to close its Meadowside facility, which would have affected 390 workers.
"At that time, we expected to close Meadowside – our ready-to-eat sausage facility – by the end of this year and transition that production volume to Salm," according to a Friday statement from the company.
Instead, the Meadowside plant has remained open, and Johnsonville has added jobs across its locations.
“Johnsonville decided it will keep its Meadowside production plant open, after re-evaluating current and future growth plans for Johnsonville’s and Salm Partners’ businesses,” according to the company's statement.
Since the Salm Partners acquisition earlier this year, Johnsonville says it has added 140 new jobs in Wisconsin across its locations in Sheboygan Falls, Denmark and Watertown. The company currently employs nearly 2,400 people.
