Jennie-O Turkey Store to reopen Willmar, Minnesota, facility

WILLMAR, Minn., May 7, 2020 (PRNewswire) — Jennie-O Turkey Store, Inc., announced Thursday that it has reopened its Benson Avenue facility, in Willmar, Minnesota, following a voluntary pause due to impact of COVID-19 in the area. The company restarted operations today with a core group of team members and plans to ramp up production over the next few days.

Steve Lykken, president of Jennie-O Turkey Store said: "We remain committed to our industry-leading efforts to maintain and enhance safety protections for our team members and this community. We are glad to be reopening this facility and are working on our plans for reopening our other facilities including another location in Willmar and in Melrose, both in Minnesota. We have put the safety of our staff first throughout this pandemic and will continue to do so. Now that we have reopened our Benson Avenue Plant, our team is turning its attention and efforts to our new awareness initiative called KEEP COVID OUT! This campaign reinforces the preventative measures throughout our facility and the efforts of our team members to keep COVID-19 outside of our building and out of our communities. COVID-19 affects all of us and we must work together to stop its spread, both at the workplace and outside of work. As a leading employer in the area, and one with our core priority on the health and safety of our employees, we are certainly eager to get back to doing what we love and that's making great food."

Jennie-O Turkey Store is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hormel Foods Corporation.