A longtime plant manager is buying a recently shuttered Franklin County dairy facility and reopening it this fall, offering a rare bright spot for a Vermont dairy industry battered by a string of recent production shutdowns.
John Ovitt, who has worked at the plant for 37 years, said he plans to take ownership of the Franklin Foods plant on Sept. 1 and will reopen it as Franklin County Cheese, producing some of the same product lines as the previous operation but on a smaller scale.
“I have worked here for 37 years and been through all the changes and did not want to see it close,” Ovitt told VTDigger.
The reopening comes at a time of significant contraction for Vermont’s dairy processing sector. At least three dairy production plants have closed in recent months. Earlier this month, MSI reported that Dairy Farmers of America said it would idle its plant in St. Albans and the adjoining St. Albans Creamery & Supply, putting about 80 employees out of work — a development that removed a long-time processing hub in the same county.
The new Franklin County Cheese operation is expected to start with about 20 workers, a decrease from the roughly 100 employees on the plant’s payroll under Franklin Foods.
Vermont Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets Anson Tebbetts described the buyout and planned reopening as a promising sign for the region’s dairy farmers.
“It’s a ray of hope,” Tebbetts said.