Express Grain Terminals is telling its employees that they could be out of work by the end of the month if the company does not soon receive financing sufficient to keep its operations going.
In a letter distributed to employees Monday, Express Gain said the layoffs would begin Jan. 28 and conclude by Feb. 28.
The letter was provided to employees as a requirement of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which says that employers with 100 or more employees must provide 60 days advance notification of plant closings and mass layoffs.
The letter was distributed to all employees, according to LaTwain Jones, who has worked at Express Grain’s oil mill for six months.
He said the employees received the letter at a sit-down meeting and were required to sign a notice of acknowledgment.
There was no immediate response Monday from officials at Express Grain. The company has approximately 150 employees.
Express Grain has been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy since late September. It reportedly is at least $110 million in debt to its creditors, including several financial institutions and more than 200 farmers.
The letter, provided to the Commonwealth by Jones, states that Express Grain has been unable to obtain “debtor-in-possession financing,” which is financing available to companies undergoing bankruptcy proceedings.
Without this financing, the letter states, the company is unable to obtain and acquire additional soybeans to utilize in its manufacturing operation.
“Given this dramatic and unforeseeable situation, the company has made the decision to discontinue production” unless the financing is approved by the bankruptcy court or an alternative method is found that would allow the company to continue acquiring soybeans and processing them into soybean meal and soybean oil at its Greenwood plant. The letter states that if the layoffs occur, they may be permanent.
The letter provides contact information for dislocated workers assistance.
Express Grain had been petitioning the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Northern District of Mississippi to receive an additional loan of up to $30 million from UMB Bank of Kansas City, Missouri, to purchase more grain. UMB Bank is Express Grain’s largest creditor with an estimated balance owed of $70 million.
Several parties, including the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce, have objected to the additional loan request and asked that the court shut Express Grain down. The Department of Agriculture is scheduled on Jan. 25 to request the court’s permission to hold hearings on an alleged fraudulent license application made by Express Grain last year.
-Contact Kevin Edwards at 662-581-7233 or kedwards@gwcommonwealth.com.
