By Will Brown

TALLAHASSEE DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER

Gadsden County's largest business announced Thursday it will be closing its doors by the end of January, laying off 490 people in the process. Mushroom producer Quincy Farms said it will phase out employees before closing completely early next year. Sylvan Inc., the company that owns Quincy Farms, said the decision was made because declining product demand and increased competition has undermined Quincy Farms' profitability.

"With the economy going in the direction that it's starting to go, there is no good time to do it and we didn't see any turnaround in the economy," said Dan Lucovich, executive vice president of Quincy Farms. "We'll close the farm in a manner that at least gets people through the holidays, and hopefully they will have some opportunities early next year. It's been an extremely hard decision to make, extremely."

According to the Agency for Workforce Innovation, the announcement of 490 layoffs is the third largest in the state this year, following Space Gateway Support LLC and Albertsons.

Laura Phelps, president of the American Mushroom Institute, was quite surprised when informed of the closing. That leaves Monterey Mushrooms' regional office in Zellwood, just north of Orlando, as the only producer of mushrooms in the state. "If Quincy is closing, that's the second significantly sized farm in the U.S. that has closed in the past few years," Phelps said, referring to a Connecticut plant that closed in 2006. "There are only about 75 commercial farms in the country, and there (were) only two in Florida." Pennsylvania and California account for 77 percent of mushrooms produced in the country, but Phelps said Florida was a major player in the industry because of the state's two commercial facilities.

Jeannie Economos was also surprised that a farm that produces 15 to 20 million pounds of mushrooms annually would close like many smaller farms in the state. Economos, the health and safety project coordinator for the Farmworkers Association of Florida, said she thought farms like Quincy would be able to withstand business fluctuations. "It's already really tough for farm workers in Florida," she said, citing how Central and South Florida growers have been affected this year.

Julia McMillian, an employee at the Meadows Convenience Store on State Road 12, said she sees many of the farm workers coming into her store after work to buy chips or cigarettes. She sympathizes with what they're going through. "That's rough because people really need their jobs," she said. "It's really messed up."

Earlier this year, Quincy Farms shut down three satellite mushroom growing facilities to take out excess production due to the economy and loss sales. The facilities were built in 2001. Workforce Plus CEO Kim Moore met with Lucovich earlier Thursday to set in motion the transition plans for the nearly 500 men and women who will be laid off from Quincy Farms this winter.

Moore said she left that meeting with the impression there are some employees who possess skills that can be transferred to open jobs in the area. Others may have to be retrained. She was also told that while some employees will be laid off later this month, a majority will work right up to the January closing. "Our process will be coordinating with educational institutions," Moore said about providing new skills for impacted employees. "I have already received calls from Tallahassee Community College and others, so we will do an assessment of what those (training courses) need to be. The employer is on board, and they will be providing me all that information, hopefully, by tomorrow."

Coordinating with Workforce Plus and other organizations will likely soften the transition for employees, Moore said. The economic impact on the county will be lasting as tax revenues, consumer spending and consumer confidence will take a hit until some, if not all, of those employees laid off find jobs. noting the economic impact the closing will have on the county.

"Our organization is really concerned for the welfare of farmworker families across the state, because a lot of people can't pay their mortgages or are unable to pay rent," Economos said. "Those workers are going to be looking for jobs other places and there are not many places to absorb them."

The primary reason the mushroom industry has not been as profitable of late is because of ballooning energy expenses. Phelps explained that mushrooms are grown indoors in climate-controlled facilities where heating and air conditioning are used extensively. "The raw products that mushrooms grow in, one of the components is hay or straw," Phelps added. "A lot of farmers who were growing hay have switched over to corn or soybeans because of the higher cost you can get for that."

In August the National Agricultural Statistics Service reported that the mushroom crop produced during the 2007-08 growing season was down 2 percent from the 2006-07 season and 4 percent from two years ago. The biggest factor for the lower production was that the overall growing area was down and the percentage of areas where mushrooms were produced was also smaller. Staff writer Nic Corbett contributed to this report.

HOW YOU CAN HELP Efforts have begun to establish a food and toy drive for the Quincy Farms workers. Attorney Elizabeth Ricci of law firm Rambana & Ricci P.A. said canned goods and toys can be delivered to the firm's office at 521 E. Tennessee St. For information, call 224-4529.