The company informed the state Employment Development Department of the pending closure in a June 1 letter as required by the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. The letter was disclosed at Tuesday's Ventura County Board of Supervisors meeting by Supervisor John Zaragoza, whose district encompasses Oxnard. The company has been in business since 1995.
"This letter is to inform you that Mandalay Berry Farms ... will be permanently closing all of its operations effective at the end of this current season," company President John Dullam wrote.
The operations are conducted at nine ranches in Oxnard, he stated.
The employees who will be losing their jobs effective July 31 are 497 harvesters/pickers, 19 harvest machine operators, 15 foremen, 15 stackers, five irrigators, five truck drivers, four forklift drivers, three punchers and two office/administration workers, according to Dullam.
