The announcement from Agropur about closing its facility in Butternut Valley came as a surprise to the local mayor.
“There was no indication this was coming at all,” Alan Brown said.
Brown said he first learned of the announcement when he started getting calls from local media for his reaction.
“I started digging around trying to find out what was going on and eventually heard from Agropur,” he said.
Brown said he spoke to someone in the company’s media relations office.
“They contacted me back and said … that it would be closing at the end of 2028.”
It comes on the heels of Agropur announcing major investments in facilities in Bedford, N.S., and Miramichi.
RELATED: Agropur planning major Bedford expansion
Brown said it’s also a shock since the New Brunswick government recently invested $2.4 million in the plant.
According to Brown, the facility has been in operation for more than 40 years and employs about 60 people.
“That’s a big hit for the area,” he said. “It was a steady, steady employer, good wages, benefits.”
Brown said the job losses are bad, but there are also secondary effects.
“The spinoffs, the lack of business that’ll be generated either through contract work or suppliers, things like that,” he said.
Brown said it’s another blow to the dairy sector in the Sussex area.
“It’s a hit to the economy and a hit to our identity,” he said.
“But there are still a lot of dairy farms in the area that are operating and will still continue to produce top-quality product.”
