The decision by Twinkie-maker Hostess Brands to close its factories has put about 450 Missourians out of work. But state help is on the way for those workers.
The state economic development department will be sending rapid response teams to both cities this week to help the displaced workers—80 in Boonville and 365 in St. Louis. .
Spokesman John Fougere says the teams will set up assistance centers to help former Hostess workers find new jobs in their field. But there aren’t many opportunities to make Twinkies or HoHos or Donettes somewhere else in either city. “That doesn’t mean they’re not qualified to do something else,” he says. The department offers job re-training programs and scholarship help for workers who go back to school.
Hostess is in bankruptcy. It’s carrying out its threat to go out of business if its bakers union continued to reject a company contract proposal. The company hopes to sell its products to other companies as it liquidates its assets.