Thursday, December 25, 2008
Something smells very good in Ashland Ohio
Somewhere just this side of hell was a private equity firm that thought it had sucked all the value from its Archway cookie company so it shut it down in October. 300 workers in Ashland Ohio thought they were left up the creek without a paddle.
But then Lance Inc., a Charlotte, North Carolina-based snack food company, purchased Archway at a bankruptcy auction. And last week 60 workers were asked to return immediately, with perhaps more coming back in the months ahead.Ah, but there is more to this Christmas story.
When it promised to reopen the bakery, Lance gave all 300 former Archway workers a $1,500 prepaid debit card.So, all you folks out there who buy cookies in the store, remember the brand names Lance and Archway when you buy. It is one way to support good corporate management.
David Singer, CEO of Lance, says the gift cards were a way of letting Ashland know the new owners are different. "We wouldn't do it willy-nilly," Singer says. "We do want to make money. But this is the pool of folks that we intend to hire. We just wanted to let them know who we were."
The 60 workers rehired so far are earning their previous salary and retained their seniority. They also were provided health insurance from day one.
The bakery now produces Lance cookies that are sold to big chains like Target and Wal-Mart. But production of Archway cookies is scheduled to resume soon. Lance has told the employees that it hopes to have the plant fully operational by the end of 2009 -- that is, five lines of cookies being produced simultaneously.
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