Over a thousand employees of HyLife Foods in Windom, a small Southern Minnesota town, could be out of a job as soon as April 17.

A Tuesday WARN notice filed with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development informed the state of the potential layoff of 1,007 employees if a buyer isn’t found to purchase all or a portion of the Windom facility. Windom itself has a population of just under 5,000 people.

In an email statement to TCB, HyLife Foods CEO Grant Lazaruk said the pork industry has been facing unprecedented  external challenges like inflation, high grain costs, and exchange rates that are affecting both businesses and consumers.

In May of 2020, HyLife partnered with Glen Taylor to purchase 75% equity interest in Taylor Corp.’s Prime Pork LLC,  a processing facility that produces, processes, and sells pork products out of Windom. In the Monday statement, Lazaruk said the company planned to turn operations around through its 2020 purchase. “Our vision, investments, and strong community involvement are a testament that we intended to be here for the long run,” he said.

But this week, the company announced company leadership has been working to sell this facility to avoid closure. The WARN notice notes that the company has been pursuing “strategic options” to continue operations. Now the company is looking to sell the entire business. The WARN notice also notes that, even if a buyer is found, that doesn’t guarantee that the buyer will retain the workers at the plant.

“This means we intend to continue producing high-quality products while this sales process plays out,” Lazaruk wrote. “We want to sincerely thank our team. This is an extremely hard week, and we are unquestionably sad. We are doing our best to share the information we currently have.”

The company anticipates employees could be impacted either between April 17 and May 1, or between May 19 and June 2.