Today, we closed the Village PieMaker production facility in Eustis, Nebraska. It was a difficult decision, and not one I reached lightly. The Eustis location was Village PieMaker’s first production facility and it stands as an important part of the company’s history.
As the Village PieMaker has become one of the fastest-growing pie brands in the United States, I’ve made substantial investments in our Nebraska production facilities. This has included building a new, state of the art facility in Omaha while trying to upgrade the Eustis plant to keep pace with customer demand.
Growth at the Village PieMaker has come with new challenges as our new national retail customers require our production facilities to meet enhanced food safety standards. As I studied this issue with my management team, it became clear that upgrading the Eustis plant to meet these standards was not feasible, and so I concluded it’s best to streamline operations, consolidating production at our modern Omaha facility.
I know how important employees are for making a business successful. The Village PieMaker has offered all current Eustis production employees positions at the Omaha facility. We’ve also made arrangements to ease the burden on those employees who choose not to accept employment in Omaha.
While my decision to close the Eustis facility was not an easy one, I believe it positions Village PieMaker for long-term success – success that will mean good jobs for more people as more and more households around the country are introduced to our wonderful, Nebraska-made pies.
