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Major Local Food Distributor To Close; 90 Jobs Lost

Posted: 5:45 pm EST November 3, 2009Updated: 6:44 pm EST November 3, 2009

A longtime food distributor in Blair County announced Tuesday it will close, putting 90 people out of work.

Lee Food Service has been in business for 130 years and is a major distributor for local restaurants, health institutions and schools.

Officials met with employees late Monday. President and Chief Executive Officer Robert Donaldson said he's working on a timeline for the closing and should have more details by the end of the week.

This is not the first time the Duncansville-based company ran into financial trouble. In 2006, the company took over for W.S. Lee & Sons when the company went bankrupt. Soon after, they implemented a five-year plan to get sales back on track. The situation changed a year ago and company officials said, after looking at all their options, liquidation was the best choice.

"In 2008, we actually had sales that were 70 percent greater than the year before through August of 2008. Then in September when the economy crashed, it really affected the restaurant industry, which is the customer base that we service," Donaldson said.

While official work out the details of the liquidation, 90 Lee Food Service employees are in limbo.

The director of sales growth at Hoss's Steak and Sea, a restaurant that used the food service for the last two years, said, "Every single job affects the local economy. We all work together to avoid this.

The company's announcement comes on the heels of two other closures in Blair County. Allstate announced that 78 employees at an express claim office will be out of work on Nov. 20. Also, Duncansville-based F.L. Smithe is moving its plant to Green Bay, Wis., and there is still no work on the status of their employees.

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