Firms Urged to Hire Victims of Shutdowns

Troubled by the loss of nearly 700 jobs last month when Nabisco Foods and Nestle USA shut down their Oxnard operations, county supervisors have sent a letter to 3,000 local businesses urging them to help the former employees find work.

“These people are among the most stable, responsible and dedicated in our community, people who have worked long and hard to earn the middle-class lifestyle they have achieved,” the letter said. “I am writing this open letter to you, the business owners of our community, to urge you to open your employment opportunities to this work force.”

Supervisor John Flynn, whose district includes Oxnard, has mailed a similar letter to 250 of the area’s large employers. He said both letters went out over the last two weeks and were mailed to all types of businesses including machine shops, landscapers, manufacturers and food service companies.

Flynn said supervisors had nailed down 15 job leads after mailing the letter to the 3,000 businesses.

“But we have just begun our follow-up,” Flynn said.

To publicize the effort, the county’s Workforce Development Division today will hold a ceremony recognizing the Nabisco Reemployment Outreach Center in Oxnard. Designed to help the former employees find new jobs, the program is based at the Oxnard Housing Authority’s Family Investment Center, 1500 Colonia Road, Suite 20. The ceremony starts at 8:30 a.m. at the center.

Many of the jobs lost were seasonal, although about 120 workers lost permanent jobs in the shutdown. “We want to put people back to work,” Flynn said.