UPDATED: Friday, January 11, 2013 --- 10:05 a.m.
WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) -- Advocates for the hungry are concerned that tens of thousands of gallons of milk and other dairy products sitting in a shuttered Golden Guernsey plant in Waukesha will go to waste.
The 83-year-old dairy processor closed abruptly last Saturday and its owner, OpenGate Capital, filed for bankruptcy protection in Delaware court. The sudden closure left more than 100 people without jobs and had schools scrambling to line up new milk suppliers.
Milk, cottage cheese, butter and eggs remain in the plant's coolers. Longtime employee Robert Storm estimates there's 150,000 to 200,000 gallons of dairy product that could go to waste.
Golden Guernsey trustee Charles Stanziale Jr. tells WISN-TV he's concerned about liability if the products were given away. Hunger Task Force executive director Sherrie Tussler is appealing to Stanziale, citing a state law that protects such donations.
Copyright 2013: Associated Press
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UPDATED Wednesday, January 9, 2013 -- 7:30 a.m.
WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) -- The 83-year-old dairy processor that closed abruptly in southeastern Wisconsin and left area schools scrambling for milk has filed for bankruptcy.
The private equity firm that bought Golden Guernsey in 2011 says it's filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in Delaware bankruptcy court. OpenGate CEO Andrew Nikou said in a statement late Tuesday that pressure to lower prices, as well as nonnegotiable operating expenses led to the decision to close the plant in Waukesha.
The sudden closure over the weekend left more than 100 people without jobs and had schools working to line up new milk suppliers. State labor officials say OpenGate had not provided the 60-day notice for a plant closing as required by law.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports Golden Guernsey was established in Milwaukee in 1930.
Copyright 2013: Associated Press
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Posted Monday, January 7, 2013 -- 7:25 a.m.
WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) -- The closing of a Waukesha dairy processing plant has schools and grocers scrambling to find alternative milk suppliers.
The Golden Guernsey plant that supplied their milk closed over the weekend with little warning. Mapleton Dairy Haulers president Lynn Hiemke in Oconomowoc expects there will be a lot of schools without milk Monday.
The Golden Guernsey plant had been under the ownership of a Los Angeles private equity firm since last year. Open Gate Capital bought the operation from Dean Foods, which was required to sell it to satisfy antitrust concerns.
Workers tell the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel the plant employed about 100 people. State labor officials say they were not notified of the closure, which is required by law.
Copyright 2013: Associated Press
