Illinois community recovers after factory closure

DEPUE, Ill. (KWQC) – A small community in Bureau County is recovering after the closure of a Monterey mushroom factory in January that previously employed hundreds of residents.

Back in November, one of Bureau County’s largest employers for decades announced to workers that they would be closing in January, sending the small community of DePue scrambling for solutions.

“Truthfully, I think we came out a lot better than we were probably thinking back in November when this news broke,” said Sheila Harmon, a second grade teacher in DePue.

Nearly half of the households enrolled in the DePue school district had someone employed at the mushroom factory located just a few miles outside of town.

And with the closure coming near the holidays, teachers wanted to make sure the children could enjoy Christmas without realizing the stress being dealt to their family.

Harmon said they were able to get donations from local areas, and raised a significant amount of money to purchase gifts for students. They wrapped the gifts and had them ready to go for parents to pick them up before winter break.

And upon the closure of the factory in January, school staff and local residents rallied to help those out of work by bringing in area companies for a job fair.

“The community came together, everybody came together, families came together, and we worked to find work for other people,” said Jacob Hoffert, the school board president for the DePue School District.

Hoffert said Sunday, it appears the community’s rapid response to the news of the factory’s closure may have ultimately saved the district and village.

“What I’ve seen is a lot of people are still working, so that’s good,” Hoffert said. “Nothing’s going down here, you’re not seeing the houses for sale. You’re not seeing the kids leave the school. So I think we’ve got to that point where we’re good.”

Both Harmon and Hoffert said the company was one of the largest donors in the holiday toy drive. As for the factory, the future of the property remains unclear.

The Princeton facility was one of two factories shut down in January by Monterey Mushrooms. The other was in Florida.

According to the company website, Monterey has seven factories currently running in the United States.

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