Chattanooga area Hostess Brands facility to close

Friday, November 16, 2012

photo Twinkies

A Hostess Brands distribution facility in Ringgold, Ga., with 25 workers planned to close today as part of the snack food maker's nationwide move to shut down operations.

"We're all reminiscing and talking about our futures," said employee Jamey Ferguson.

He said Hostess, which makes snacks such as Twinkies and Ding Dongs, has another distribution site in Sweetwater, Tenn., and a bakery in Knoxville.

Texas-based Hostess announced today it's winding down operations and has filed a motion with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court seeking permission to close its business and sell its assets.

The company said bakery operations have been suspended at all plants.

The board of directors authorized the move after one of the company's largest unions, the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union, initiated a nationwide strike that crippled Hostess' ability to produce and deliver products at multiple facilities, the business said in a statement on its website.

About 18,500 Hostess employees are to lose their jobs nationally.

See full story in Saturday's Times Free Press.