Solae plant to close by end of year

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- All jobs will be eliminated at a Louisville plant owned by DuPont because it is closing at the end of the year.

About 50 employees are affected.

Officials at the Solae plant, located on Floyd Street, near UofL, says it's closing to restructure its business.

"This is a difficult day for us at the Solae Louisville plant," Louisville Plant Manager Brad Jenkins said in a news release. "The decisions we announced today will impact the lives of our employees, their families, and the community. We have hard working, dedicated employees at the site and a long history of positive contributions to the local community and economy. I'm proud of what we've been able to accomplish here. It is unfortunate that current economic conditions have driven this decision. We're going to do everything we can to assist our employees during this challenging time."

The Solae Louisville plant produces high quality industrial products from soy that are used in the paper & board, adhesives, and ink industries. The plant first opened in 1919 and has gone through several changes in product lines and ownership over the years. The Solae business is now owned by DuPont.

The closing is part of Dupont restructuring its global operations and eliminating 1,500 workers nationwide.

"It is unfortunate but global economic conditions have taken a toll on a number of businesses," says Jenkins, "and it has on ours as well and it has left our site in an underutilized situation that is not sustainable."

Employees WDRB News spoke with said they were stunned by the news and did not see it coming.

Solae says it will provide employees with a severance package.

"We will explore every opportunity to redeploy impacted employees into other company positions as well as provide outplacement services and other support," said duPont spokesman Dave Hastings. "Solae will provide our employees a severance package based on Solae policy or agreements with the union."