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More local reaction from Spitz shutting down outside Bow Island.

Feb 19, 2018 | 4:36 PM

 

BOW ISLAND, AB. – The Spitz factory owned by Pepsi Co. just south of Bow Island, AB. announced on Thursday it will be closing its doors in July.

The news has come as a shock to the community after 30 years of operation in the County of Forty Mile.

Gordon Reynolds, the Mayor of Bow Island said the closure is devastating to the families affected and the region as a whole.

“They’re probably pretty upset, concerned about the future,” he said. “You have to worry about things like depression and anxiety.”

Steve Wikkerink, Reeve for the County of Forty Mile said 53 employees will have their jobs terminated with the closure. They are from the communities of Bow Island, Burdett and Foremost. He said the announcement from Spitz came as a surprise.

“We saw Spitz put money into that plant a year ago, expanding there receiving and shipping bays,” he said. “We thought they were here for a much longer term.”

MLA for Cypress-Medicine Hat, Drew Barnes describes the history of Spitz in Southern Alberta as a tremendous example of entrepreneurship. The company was founded by Tom Droog, who came to Canada from the Netherlands in the 1970s with only $125 in his pocket.

Barnes said the shut down isn’t sitting well with him.

“My first reaction is the tremendous empathy and concern for the 53 employees and their families,” he said. “It’s going to have huge reverberations throughout the community.”

The Spitz plant in Medicine Hat closed down in 2016 and the seeds for the operation have not been grown in Alberta.

Current employees are under a publication ban and cannot speak to the media.

Parent company Pepsi Co released this statement:

“This facility will close later this year and Spitz production will be moving to an existing contract manufacturer partner in the US,” a statement from the company reads. “This was a business decision based on an extensive evaluation of the long-term viability of this site and its ability to meet our increasing volume requirements for the brand, which will continue to play an important role in our North American portfolio.”

Pepsi Co purchased Spitz in 2008. The company has been operating out of Bow Island since 1982

Reynolds says they are already getting to work looking for other business opportunities.

“The variety of crops that are grown in this area and the kind of entrepreneurs we have combined with entrepreneurial attitude by the municipalities, the door is open (for business),” he said.

Both the Town of Bow Island and the County of Forty Mile said they will reduce red tape to help a new business move into the facility as soon as possible.