GARNER -- Some town leaders say they would consider giving ConAgra Foods financial incentives to keep its damaged Slim Jim plant open in Garner.
Members of the Garner Town Council met with ConAgra representatives in a closed-door meeting Tuesday to talk about economic development. The company has not asked for tax breaks or other aid, and the town hasn't offered, said Tony Beasley, Garner's economic development director.
"As [ConAgra] evaluates, we have to be available to offer whatever we can," Beasley said, adding that local, state or federal grants could be options. "Whether that will be incentives or not is too early to tell."
He declined to comment on what officials discussed in the meeting Tuesday.
What will happen to the Garner plant is uncertain. On June 9, an explosion that investigators think was sparked by natural gas killed three workers and injured dozens of others. Parts of the plant reopened, but at half its previous production capacity.
Before the explosion, the Garner plant was the only production site in the world for Slim Jims. Since June, ConAgra has shifted some Slim Jim production to its plant in Troy, Ohio, and used some third-party contractors.
And in September, ConAgra announced it would lay off about 300 of the factory's 750 remaining workers. Some of those employees worked their last day this week.
"We are hopeful they will put these people back to work," said Garner Mayor Ronnie Williams. "But it doesn't look like they're going to."
Williams said he doesn't want ConAgra to shut down its Garner plant. To help entice the company, Williams said, the town might be willing to grant "reasonable requests."
The company doesn't have a time frame for deciding whether the Garner plant will stay open, said Stephanie Childs, a ConAgra spokeswoman.
"We are in the process of determining what's next," Childs said.
She said it's too early to say whether ConAgra will seek incentives to stay in Garner.
The town has given the company tax breaks in the past. In 2007, Garner agreed to give ConAgra $332,063 in tax breaks over 10 years to upgrade its facility, Beasley said. So far, he said, the company has gotten about $192,500 in tax breaks from the town as part of that agreement.
The plant will shut down for two to three weeks around Christmas so workers can remove debris left from the blast, Childs said.
"Right now we are focused on making sure production in Garner is going smoothly," she said.
