More than 40 Layoffs Expected at Darigold Creamery
Layoffs at the former Country Classic plant come after the plant's owner, Seattle-based co-op Darigold, decided to send milk to Salt Lake City for pasteurization.
Up to 40 of the 60 people employed at Bozeman's creamery will be laid off within the month, a spokeswoman for Darigold said Monday, as will dozens of drivers who drove locally produced milk to grocery stores across the region.
The layoffs from the former Country Classic plant come after the plant's owner, Seattle-based co-op Darigold, decided to send more milk to Salt Lake City for pasteurization, spokeswoman Michelle Carter said.
The move will make the dairy co-op more efficient, since it better reflects where Darigold's customers are, Carter said. She said the change will mean 1.5 million fewer shipping miles for its storeready milk.
But the announcement marks another blow for Country Classic, which in recent years has weathered an embezzlement scandal and a merger with Darigold that many predicted had ominous implications for local workers.
Carter said the precise number of employees to be laid off is not known, but she put the figure for the processing plant at between 35 and 40 workers. That does not account for drivers and warehouse workers who are also being laid off.
Carter said she did not know how many drivers would be laid off, but a driver for the company who shared his name but asked that it not be published said about two dozen people would lose their jobs with the shipping portion of the company.
Carter said the shipping is being outsourced to Estenson Logistics of Chandler, Ariz. The company is encouraging laidoff workers to apply for jobs with that company.
"We don't take the decision lightly, but we wish employees the best in the application process with Estenson," she said.
The plant, which pasteurizes and enriches milk before it hits grocery store shelves, will continue to process some milk.
As recently as 2007, the company employed 150 people and saw about $50 million in annual sales, according to a Belgrade News story.
The co-op was rocked in 2009 with revelations that its CEO, Michael Monforton, and three other top officials embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from the company to pay for school tuition, Big Sky Resort season passes and other personal expenses. All the officials have since pleaded guilty on embezzlement charges. Earlier this month, Monforton was sentenced to four years in prison and ordered to pay more than $1 million in restitution.
By 2010, the company had merged with Darigold.
Country Classic, formed in 1932, was a dairy cooperative, meaning it was owned by the dairyfarms that sent their milk to Bozeman for processing. At the time of the merger, Country Classic was owned by 33 dairy farmers, who sent their raw milk to Bozeman and produced 55 percent of Montana's milk supply.
It was unclear Monday how many of those farmers will now send their milk to Salt Lake City for processing.
Scott Kiilsgaard, production manager at the Bozeman processing plant, said he was not authorized to talk about the layoffs and forwarded all questions to Carter.
Carter said the employees that will be laid off are being encouraged to apply for jobs within the company.
Daniel Person can be reached at dperson@ dailychronicle.com.
