Smithfield Foods to Close Pork Processing Plant

Smithfield Foods will close its Charlotte, NC, pork-processing plant and transfer production to its Tar Heel, NC, facility to increase efficiency and better use existing capacity.

The facilities are 142 miles apart, so it is unlikely workers from Charlotte could transfer to Tar Heel.

The company will provide financial and other transition assistance to the 107 employees who are affected by this closure and will meet with employees to discuss options including transfer to other Smithfield locations. Smithfield will also provide a financial incentive package for hourly employees to remain at Charlotte until the final day of production in December.

"Providing transition support to our Charlotte employees is our number-one priority," said Doug Sutton, chief manufacturing officer for Smithfield Foods. "We appreciate their commitment to producing good food responsibly, and we hope many of them will continue in roles at other Smithfield locations."

Smithfield Foods employs nearly 40,000 people in the UC and more than 10,000 in North Carolina.