ROCHESTER – Dean Foods Co. will close its Rochester plant before the end of the year, resulting in the layoff of all 138 employees. According to a Tuesday filing with the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, Dean Dairy Holdings LLC will close the plant at 1700 N. Old 31, Rochester. The company plans to start laying off all workers by Oct. 16 and for the layoffs to become permanent by Oct. 17. The company said in a statement Wednesday that it is consolidating operations in Indiana and ending production at the fluid milk and cultured processing plant in Rochester, but that it will “continue to maintain significant operations” in Huntington and Decatur, and that its products will continue to be available in the region. “We regret the impact that this result will have on our employees and our community,” the statement continues. “The decision to eliminate jobs in any part of our business is never an easy one. This move does not reflect the quality of work performed by our employees, but rather reflects the need to remove redundancy in our operations.” Dallas, Texas-based Dean Foods has over 50 local and regional brands throughout the country. In Indiana, the company also runs Schenkel's All Star Dairy in Huntington and an ice cream operation in Decatur. The company closed its Maplehurst Farms dairy facility in Indianapolis in July 1999 to consolidate operations into other facilities in Indiana and Ohio, shedding 200 jobs.
