A Copper Cliff landmark for 75 years, the dairy located on Balsam Street, will close on Jan. 29, 2011.

The owners of the facility, Agropur, based in Quebec, announced the closure at a press conference Sept. 7 at the Holiday Inn. They said the plant was uncompetitive, and required a large amount of future investment.

Thirty full-time employees and three part-time employees will lose their jobs.

“We’re in shock,” Fred Bulloch, a production worker, said. The Whitefish resident has more than 32 years of service at the dairy. Bulloch said the plant meant more to the community than just a place to work.

“The Copper Cliff dairy is like a piece of vertebrae in the spine of Sudbury,” Bulloch said. “It is a name we are allowing to slip away forever from our community.”

Derik McArthur, president of the Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union in Sudbury, said companies are not investing in the north.

“Businesses are moving production to other parts of the province,” he said. “These are career jobs that are gone. You could raise a family on them.”

Bulloch said the Copper Cliff plant is efficient at producing specialty items, like yogurt, which are sold across the province.

Because he is close to retirement, he said he will not be hit hard by the closure, but is concerned about the impact on younger employees.

According to Phil Rossel, Ontario director of human resources for Agropur, the severance package being offered to employees is more than what is required by law. Those let go will receive two weeks severance for each year of service. In addition, laid off employees will have priority over external applicants to other jobs in the company’s plants, if they choose to relocate, according to a recent Agropur press release. Employees will receive job counselling and support services.

“We will be meeting with the company to discuss the severance package,”McArthur said.

After the closure, dairy products will be shipped to the city and area from Agropur plants in Ottawa and Toronto.

“We will still operate warehousing and sales operations in the city and employ nine full-time employees here in Greater Sudbury,” Rossel said.