Archive: Around Town

Thanks to Watkins Glen and Lansing, families have food on their tables and know their roads are safe during the COVID-19 pandemic

As people face the challenges and uncertainty caused by the spread of COVID-19, heroic work is happening around the clock to keep food on family tables and store shelves and ensure roads are safe. That work is happening right here in Watkins Glen and Lansing, thanks to businesses and local employees, including 350 Cargill employees who show up every day to nourish, enhance and protect lives.

Communities like Watkins Glen and Lansing are critical to our food and transportation systems. Local employers, like Cargill, are also investing to focus on safety and keep facilities operating during the COVID-19 crisis. Cargill has implemented safety measures such as temperature testing, enhanced cleaning and sanitizing, prohibiting visitors and offering staggered breaks and shift flexibility. Employees are provided with face coverings for public interactions and are encouraged to use face coverings within the plants as a supplement to the many social distancing practices already put into place.

Food and road salt manufacturing have been deemed essential services, which puts employees on the front lines of the COVID-19 response. We operate year-round to produce and ship enough salt to keep people and animals fed and roads safe each winter.

“We’re working every day to keep people safe and flavorful food on the table,” said Keith Klug, Cargill’s Watkins Glen facility manager. “That means keeping our facilities open, giving back to the community and making sure our local economy stays strong.”

Cargill also is supporting its local nonprofit partners, including providing a total of $110,000 to the Food Bank of the Southern Tier and the Lansing Food Pantry, as well as the Schuyler Hospital. Other nonprofit partners, including Action for Healthy Kids, the American Farmland Trust – Farmer Relief Fund and the Restaurant Employee Relief Fund, as well as local foodbanks and social organizations, are also playing a critical role in helping lift up the economy and make sure no one goes hungry.

“We are inspired by the tireless work of New York’s doctors, nurses, first responders, workers and those in agriculture who are making sure no one goes hungry,” said Shawn Wilczynski, Cargill’s Lansing mine manager. “Together we are going to overcome this crisis and come out of this even more connected.”

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