SLEEPY EYE, Minn. — It's August in this southern Minnesota town.
Trucks loaded with sweet corn are rumbling down the two-lane highways, headed for one place: the Del Monte canning plant. Huge conveyors can be seen lifting the ears from the pavement into the processing center.
It may all be a memory a year from now. Del Monte announced it will shut down the plant, beginning in October. Nearly 70 year-round employees and 300 seasonal workers will be sidelined.
"I think it was a surprise to everybody," said Mike Mason, who worked for Del Monte for 30 years and was managing the Sleepy Eye plant when he retired.
"It’s a good plant, good plant, well run, with good people, and I don’t know what they’re going to do now. It's going to be devastating to the local community."
Mason runs the stained glass shop on city's main street. He rents his upstairs apartments to seasonal workers who move here from Texas every summer.
"There will be a lot of vacant apartments in this town."
And it's not just the canning plant, which produces peas and whole kernel corn. There are hundreds of corn and pea growers who will need to find other places to sell their goods, or switch to other crops.
There's also the truck and rail traffic in and out of the plant, and the jobs connected to that.
The plant has been part of this community since 1930, back when Del Monte was still known as the California Packing Company. Many of the summer festivals here are themed around corn, and the Del Monte sponsors floats and provides free food.
At least 20 families have children in the schools here, with at least 35 children living in households that depend upon the Del Monte Plant, according to Sleepy Eye superintendent John Cselovszki.
"We'll feel the impact of that next year, as we're planning for next year's school year," Cselovszki said.
"But potentially we’re hoping there will be a buyer for the plant. The plant is a nice plant, has had a lot of recent improvements, so we're hoping the same type of business will take a look."
The city's economic development wing and the local chamber of commerce are also hoping to convince Del Monte to help find another buyer for the plant and the property, to keep people working.
"This decision has been difficult and has come after careful consideration," Del Monte CEO said in a statement released by the California-based company.
"This restructuring is a necessary step for us to remain competitive in a rapidly changing marketplace. We are committed to doing all we can to provide the affected employees with resources and support."
Del Monte also plans to close a plant in Mendota, Illinois after the current packing season. It will also sell facilities in Cambria, Wisconsin and Crystal City, Texas.