DAKOTA DUNES, S.D. (KTIV) -
More bad news for Beef Products, Incorporated. Company officials said that BPI will cut another 86 jobs at its corporate headquarters in Dakota Dunes, South Dakota, and its plant in South Sioux City, Nebraska.
BPI co-founder Regina Roth said Monday's cuts, quote "cause very personal heartache for us."
Roth said BPI isn't "a big conglomerate, but a small family owned business."
"We personally know and have worked side by side with these people," Roth added.
And, "our family business will never be the same with this loss."
Specifically, the cuts come from the company's corporate staff in accounting, logistics, engineering, and human resources.
But, the cuts aren't limited to the Dakota Dunes headquarters. A company spokesman says cuts will also come from BPI's machine shop and assembly facility in South Sioux City.
The cuts were effective Monday.
And, they are in addition to the more than 650 employees who will lose their jobs when BPI officially closes its plants in Kansas, Texas and Iowa on May 25th.
Company officials say the cuts are related to a "widespread campaign of misinformation" about the company's signature product, Lean Finely Textured Beef or LFTB.
Company co-founder Eldon Roth says he continues to stand by LFTB as "100-percent safe and wholesome."
Roth says he's convinced that "consumer demand for our high quality lean beef will return."
There was some good news for workers affected by this latest round of cuts.
Company spokesman Rich Jochum says these workers will get severance benefits.
What's more, they'll still get paid for another 60-days, even though they lost their jobs.
