How has Del Monte's closing affected Mendota?

A little more than a year ago, Del Monte announced it would be closing its canning facility in Mendota after seven decades.

How has the closure affected Mendota?

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic and uncertainty about what’s happening with the Del Monte site, it’s hard to say.

“Obviously, it wasn’t something we anticipated or wanted to happen,” said Mendota City Clerk Emily McConville, who also serves as the city’s economic director. “It’s really hard to tell the effects just because of the pandemic. Our unemployment rate spiked there when everyone else’s did. It’s hard to discern what effects Del Monte had versus going through the pandemic.”

When Del Monte closed, 111 full-time jobs were lost, along with about 360 seasonal positions.

Seneca Foods purchased the canning facility from Del Monte but did not buy the ponds or the warehouse.

So far, Seneca Foods has left the facility nonoperational, and McConville is unaware of any plans the company has for the site.

Seneca Foods did not respond to a media request for information for this story.

“I’ve tried to contact Del Monte,” McConville said. “I have a couple names, one in real estate, and reached out saying we’d love to know what’s going on [with Seneca Foods] and if we can help in any way. I got a very short response saying nothing at this time, basically.

“We’d love to hear from Seneca and know what the plans are and if there is anything the city can do to help them.”

While Seneca Foods has yet to bring any jobs to Mendota, the city has had some new jobs created by companies such as ADM and Starved Rock Wood Products.

“One thing Del Monte did have was a lot of longtime, very loyal, hard-working employees, and other companies knew that, so they sought them out,” McConville said.

In September 2019, just before Del Monte’s announcement, ADM opened a flour mill in Mendota, which its website touts as “the largest flour mill ever built from the ground up in North America.”

The site features three milling units, a loop track with 110-car shuttle rail unloading capacity, three bulk truck load outs and rail load out capability, a high speed packer and 30,000-square-foot warehouse, a lab with up-to-date quality control equipment and an on-site transportation company.

McConville said the mill created about 60 full-time positions.

“They’ve invested a lot of money in Mendota,” McConville said. “They bought quite a bit of land in Mendota. We’re hoping that they see they’ve invested in Mendota so when they go to do something else, they may say we already have the land in Mendota, we know the workforce is good, so we may build something else there.”

Starved Rock Wood Products, which is located in the former RR Donnelly building, has plans to build a 25,000 square foot showroom and a larger warehouse.

The company has added about 100 employees in the past two years and is expected to add 50 to 80 more jobs in the next two years.

McConville said the city has several incentives to encourage current businesses to expand and attract new businesses.

“We’re encouraging other businesses that are thriving with incentives and whatever we can do for them,” McConville said. “We have a revolving loan fund we have used on several occasions. We have over a million dollars in it. There are stipulations, but it’s a low-interest loan that can be used for working capital, doing an addition, adding machinery or what have you.”

Del Monte was in a TIF that ends in December, which will boost tax revenue.

“It’s good for the taxing bodies, but [not] having the jobs, it’s a balance there,” McConville said.