The community of Van Buren, Arkansas, is taking steps to find employment for workers affected by Tyson Foods’ recent decision to close its poultry plant there.
During his State of the City address on April 3, Van Buren Mayor Joe Hurst mentioned Tyson’s plans to close the plant in about five weeks, calling it a “sad ordeal” for the nearly 1,000 workers employed there, reported Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Hurst also spoke of partnerships between the city and other entities in the region to assist those whose jobs in Van Buren will be lost.
One of those means of assistance is a job fair. On the City of Van Buren Facebook page appeared a press release from the Van Buren Chamber of Commerce. The fair will be hosted by the chamber, as well as the city, the Crawford County Adult Education Center and the Van Buren School District.
The job fair will be held on Saturday, April 29, at Van Buren High School.
“Immediately after the plant closing was announced, this community came together to find ways to help,” Hurst said in the press release. “I’m thankful to all our partners and I’m optimistic that the career and resource fair will be a great benefit to all who attend.”
Van Buren Chamber President and CEO Julie Murray said: “Hosting this even on a Saturday makes it easier for both job seekers and employers to participate. And the high school provides ample space and parking to accommodate everyone who wants to attend.”
Tyson Foods announced in mid-March that it planned to not only close the Van Buren plant, but also the processing, broiler and hatching operations in Glen Allen, Virginia.
In explaining the decision to cease those operations, Tyson Foods stated: “To strengthen our chicken business, we are focused on operational excellence and optimizing our network to reach full capacity in every Tyson Foods facility. With that said, the current scale and inability to economically improve operations has led too the difficult decision to close the facilities.”
