The Simply Essentials chicken processing plant in Charles City, Iowa, has announced that it will close on August 5. Employees were told last week that 479 plant workers, 22 administrators and 12 field operations workers will be laid off, reports the Globe Gazette.

"While Simply Essentials is continuing to negotiate with various parties in the hope of accomplishing a sale of its assets, at this point it does not appear that a buyer will be found prior who can take over operations before Aug. 5, 2019, or if an agreement is reached, the buyer may not hire a significant percentage of the workforce, requiring Simply Essentials to provide this WARN notice to all employees," stated a letter sent to employees.

Simply Essentials had been operating out of its plant since 2016. The company has been in business since 2013, focusing in health and wellness foods.

Source: Globe Gazette