Workers at the Kraft-Heinz factory in Steuben County can keep their jobs a little longer. Kraft was going to start shutting down on May 26 if they couldn’t find a buyer, but there's some interest.
It’s not publicly known who the interested buyers are, but a spokesman with Kraft, Michael Mullen, said they’re optimistic they’ll reach a deal by the end of the summer.
"We are extending the term of employment for 330 of our Campbell employees through August 23,” said Mullen, in a statement.
In February, Kraft had announced layoffs for 330 employees. Campbell only has about 3,500 people, so the threat of losing jobs at the cheese factory in this small town is a big deal.
Back in 2015, Kraft announced plans to consolidate operations and close the plant.
But, Governor Cuomo and Senator Charles Schumer stepped in and got Kraft to keep making products like string cheese and ricotta while they looked for a company to buy the plant.
If there weren’t takers by this week, Kraft planned to start handing out severance packages.
That won’t happen just yet.