Heartland 'Cookie Factory' in Du Quoin to Close Dec.16

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Heartland Baking Company, LLC Monday confirmed the closure of its Du Quoin bakery effective December 16, 2011.

The closure will result in the loss of 31 jobs. Severance arrangements will be made for Heartland employes who continue to work through the closure date.

The bakery is a fourth generation descendent of what began in the early 1990s as the General Henry Biscuit Co., founded by namesakes Ray and Darlene Henry.

During peak baking seasons the plant employed upwards of 90 people. Heartland (General Henry) was the first tenant of the Du Quoin Industrial Park created through a $50,000 gift from the Du Quoin Business Association, back in the late 1980s.

At this writing, MPP, Inc. is the only active tenant left standing in the large Industrial Park. MPP is a zinc metal electroplating company across the drive from Heartland.

"We are disappointed to announce that our Du Quoin bakery will close," stated Mike Swanson, Director of Operations. Heartland will continue to operate the bakery for the next two weeks to enable its employees to focus on personal transition plans. Customers have been notified so as to transition suppliers.

Swanson went on to say,"The economics of the private label cookie in-store bakery business have been difficult given the price of fuel and other inflationary pressures that affect overall profitability,"Swanson advised. "Our people have put forth their best effort and have been very productive in our quest to reduce costs at this facility. In the end, however, we have been unable to overcome the financial dynamics."

Swanson said the company will continue to support its employees through the transition.

It's hard to keep up with the company's long list of ownerships.

Heartland Bakery is actually a subsidiary of Brownsburg, Indiana-based Maplehurst Bakeries, which bought out Heartland owner Keystone Bakeries in September 2010. Prior to that a man by the name of Steve Scaff, who grew up in the food business. bought the Du Quoin assets of Italian foods company Parmalat--the second owner.

At this writing the interests of Maplehurst Bakeries include Freed's Bakery of Manchester, NH, a supplier of frozen, fully finished iced cupcakes; Granny's Kitchens of Frankfort, NY, a leading supplier of pre-fried and ready-to-sell donuts; and Heartland Bakery of Du Quoin, IL, a specialty supplier of ready-to-sell cookies.

The "cookie factory" took on the name Heartland Baking USA during the fall of 2006.The vision was to produce great tasting cookies for the supermarket industry with the same superior flavor and taste that "made to order" cookies deliver, but with a significantly longer shelf life.

The City of Du Quoin, which off and on, has financed the bakery, has no liens against the operation.

The last of the outstanding debt to the city was taken care of in 2010.

Du Quoin economic development director Jeff Ashauer has been through all of this before and indicated late Monday the only realistic approach is to ask Heartland's owners to keep the plant viable, then find a new tenant.