Cracker Plant and Call Center Closing, 400 Jobs Lost

• Joe Wertz
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  Joe Wertz was a reporter and managing editor for StateImpact Oklahoma from 2011-2019. He reported on energy and environment issues for national NPR audiences and other national outlets. He previously worked as a managing editor, assistant editor and staff reporter at several major Oklahoma newspapers and studied journalism at the University of Central Oklahoma.

A food plant in Poteau and a call center in Lawton are closing, and hundreds of Oklahomans will lose their jobs, officials for both companies say.

Bremner Food Group Officials say 230 people will lose their jobs at the Poteau plant, which produces snack foods and crackers, the Associated Press reports. The company laid of 100 people last night.

The Assurant Solutions call center in Lawton will close next year, leaving 175 without work, NewsOn6.com reports. Layoffs there are expected to start in June.

Poteau Mayor Jeff Shockley tells 5NewsOnline out of Fort Smith, Ark., that officials with the state Department of Commerce are planning to help workers there look for new jobs and file for unemployment.

The mayor adds he is in the process of contacting Ralcorp Holdings Inc., the company that owns Bremner, to see if he can work with them to help market the plant to look for new owners who might buy the facility.