A Charleroi-area food processing plant scheduled to close will remain open a bit longer, according to the court-appointed receiver operating the business.
Fourth Street Barbecue Inc., which operates plants in Speers and Fallowfield Township, Washington County, “may still be permanently closing the facilities and terminating all (252) employees, but sometime between Nov. 1 and Nov. 30,” Mark Welch, the co-receiver in charge of the company, stated in an updated Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) filed with the state.
The notice states the company is winding down its operations, which involves co-manufacturing frozen food products for branded and private-label retailers nationwide. Welch, a senior managing director at the Pittsburgh office of J.S. Held, a co-receiver for Fourth Street Barbecue, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Welch told Tribune-Review news partner WTAE-TV on Tuesday that he is seeking a buyer for the plant.
The initial notice filed with the state Department of Labor and Industry had set Oct. 31 as the closing date. Welch did not reveal in his state notification how many of the 252 workers remained on the job as of last week.
The company’s founder and owner, David Barbe, had been removed from his operational role by a previous receiver.
The initial announcement of the closing came on Oct. 9 after Huntington National Bank of Columbus, Ohio, filed a lawsuit against Fourth Street Foods in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh for defaulting on about $89 million in loans.
In addition to the money Huntington claims it is owed, Bongards’ Creameries of Chanhassen, Minn., filed a lawsuit seeking $2.89 million from the company. Bongards claims Fourth Street Barbecue received cheese from the company between July 8 and Oct. 12 but never provided payment.
Bongards’ is seeking the received cheese and any proceeds from its sale, according to the lawsuit. Bongards had also filed a lawsuit in Washington County Court last month seeking payment for the cheese it provided Fourth Street Foods.