Future of Slim Jim Plant Uncertain After ConAgra Tragedy

(MoneyWatch)  ConAgra has promised to look after its employees after a plant explosion in Garner, North Carolina killed three and sent nearly 40 to the hospital. CEO Gary Rodkin visited the plant just after the explosion and promised that the company would pay for funerals, support the victims' families, and continue paying employees "until further notice," even though the plant is no longer operational.

The Garner plant has been the only one producing Slim Jim products since ConAgra streamlined its factory operations in 2006, moving all of its Slim Jim production to Garner. The community fears that the plant will not reopen, and once the "until further notice" paychecks stop, 900 people will find themselves jobless.

"Our hope is to rebuild," Rodkin said. "But there are many challenges, obviously, that we need to work through. And we need to make sure that we can service our customers on an ongoing basis." ConAgra will need to act fast -- Slim Jim meat snacks require special machinery to produce, and current inventory will only hold out for so long.

Federal investigators looking into the explosion concluded that no foul play or criminal activity was responsible for the explosion, which tore through the 500,000-square-foot plant while 300 people were working there. The investigators blamed a gas leak and handed the case over to local authorities, who are still trying to determine exact details.

The mayor of Garner is apparently confident that ConAgra will stick around and rebuild the plant locally. "They've been a longtime corporate citizen providing jobs and income and benefits to the town," he told a local TV station. "I've been reassured from the corporate people, that rebuilding is going to take place."

Garner has certainly helped out ConAgra. According to the local paper, when ConAgra began a massive upgrade of the plant in 2007, "The town awarded incentives worth an estimated $332,063 over 10 years, according to Board of Aldermen records."