Mars says plant likely to be sold

Mars Petcare U.S. is negotiating the sale of its Exclusive Brands business, which manufactures pet care products at its facility in south Clinton.
The plant is one of the city’s leading employers. Chamber of Commerce President Julie Burden said it had 95 employees a year ago.
Mayor David Berrong was informed of the possible sale Monday, and employees were being notified as they reported to work that day.
“We have deeply valued our partnership with you and the Clinton site and wanted to notify you of this potential sale at the earliest possible time,” Brad Figel, the company’s vice president of public affairs for North America, told Mayor Berrong in an email Monday.
Figel said the Exclusive Brands portion of Mars Petcare’s business is the private-label line of products the company produces for its U.S. customers. “As the Clinton site currently manufactures Exclusive Brand private label pet food products, the potential sale would result in the transfer of the site to a future buyer,” he said.
“Being optimistic about it, hopefully we will see what happened in our past – a sequence of progressive changes,” said Mayor Berrong. When Collins & Aikman left, he said people thought that was disastrous but in a reasonable amount of time Doane Pet Care moved in, to be followed by Mars which he called “a significant business for us.”
“I have yet to speak with Mr. Figel,” he added, “but I’m going to do that.”
Also, he said this is a prime example of why Clinton is trying to find a professional economic development director. Besides recruiting new businesses, he said such an individual would be “working on Clinton’s best interest in getting a replacement industry.”
Of course, there’s always the possibility that whoever Mars sells the facility here to could continue it as a manufacturer of pet food products.
Berrong said Figel was optimistic in his letter that the purchaser would maintain the employment base here.
“Some things you can’t know in advance,” said Berrong, “but one of the attributes of having a professional economic development director in Clinton is that they will be expected to know as much as possible about the health of existing businesses and about complementary businesses.
Berrong also said this will be an opportunity for the city to help control its own destiny. 
“The decision to sell this portion of our business is not one we have come to lightly,” Figel said in his letter. “The pet care industry is evolving faster than ever before and we, as one of the largest pet food manufacturers in the United States, are consistently reevaluating our strategy.
“As we move forward with the potential sale and subsequent transition plans, we will continue to provide you with updates on a regular basis. At this time, we don’t know nor can we control what a future buyer might do with the site. It is our sincere hope that a new buyer will have a successful experience in the consumer and retail sector and will be eager to invest behind the growth of the Exclusive Brands business, thereby maintaining and expanding the facility and employment base.”
Attempts by the Clinton Daily News to reach Figel at his office in northern Virginia were unsuccessful Monday.
Mars Pet Care operates three shifts at the Clinton plant.