Company loses contract with Kuna beef plant, leaving 50-plus workers laid off
The unexpected end of a contract between a food safety company and a Kuna beef-packaging plant has left more than 50 people facing layoffs.
Fortrex, a nationwide company specializing in food safety and compliance, notified the Idaho Department of Labor on July 1 that 53 employees located in Kuna would be laid off effective July 30, according to the state’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act records.
The Idaho Statesman obtained Fortrex’s notification letter sent to the Department of Labor, and it states that the company’s contract with CS Beef Packers in Kuna ended abruptly, and that the termination affects all employees, including food safety sanitors, plant safety specialists, managers and supervisors.
The letter also said that CS Beef Packers would continue its operations with a different food sanitation company.
Fortrex said it was offering an opportunity for laid-off employees to transfer to another Fortrex location within a reasonable commuting distance from the Kuna plant.
“Your separation is not a reflection of you or your work performance for this Company,” the letter read. “The unforeseen business circumstances related to CS Beef Packers’s decision to immediately cease operations at its plant is not something that we anticipated.”
Fortrex provides sanitation, audit readiness, employee training, operation service and regulatory compliance for food plants in most U.S. states, as well as Canada.
CS Beef Packers, which is a partnership between Caviness Beef Packers and J.R. Simplot Company formed in 2015, opened the processing and packaging plant in 2017. The company’s website says it prioritizes quality and food safety utilizing a “state of the art” facility and local cattle procurement.
The Idaho Statesman reached out to Fortrex and CS Beef for comment. Fortrex told the Statesman in an email that it would not comment on the matter, and CS Beef did not immediately respond.
