When it rains it pours.  A little less than 6 months after the raid on Agriprocessors, the serious fallout – of the “going out of business sale” variety – has begun.  Last week the company was sued for $10 million dollars, and former CEO Sholom Rubashkin was arrested.

Now, according to The Des Moines Register, the company is running, but just barely, with a meager 35 cars in a parking lot that generally holds hundreds and fairly dismal prospects for recovery in the near future.  Read the full story below the jump.  And, kosher keepers – has the lack of production impacted what’s available on the shelves yet?  Where are you getting your kosher meat from these days?

Pictured: Sholom Rubashkin
(hat tip to Failed Messiah)

Embattled Agriprocessors Plant Struggling to Survive
By: Grante Schulte and Tony Leys
November 3, 2008

The embattled Agriprocessors meatpacking plant is struggling to survive in the face of criminal charges against its former leader, tens of millions of dollars in proposed fines and a bank that is demanding payment on multimillion-dollar loans.

Two main boilers at Agriprocessors, Inc. are not operating, and a local priest who drove past the parking lot counted only 35 cars – far fewer than the hundreds visible on a typical day.
The plant’s beef kill department remains out of service as it was last week, said the Rev. Paul Ouderkirk, pastor of St. Bridget’s Catholic Church in Postville. Ouderkirk is one of several local religious leaders who care for workers with housing or food needs.

The plant’s other meat departments, turkey and chicken kill, “are still going as far as we know,” Ouderkirk said.  The plant’s financial troubles have mounted in recent weeks as company managers grapple with worker shortages and overdue bills.

Bernard Feldman, Agriprocessors’ chief executive officer, acknowledged Monday that the plant was struggling to continue. “I don’t believe we’re going to have substantial production of any kind in the near future,” he said.

Feldman is a New York lawyer who has done legal work for the Rubashkin family, which owns Agriprocessors. He was named chief executive officer in September, after the nation’s largest kosher-certifying agency said it would pull its certification unless a new leader was hired.

Feldman said this morning that he was talking with outside investors or companies interested in buying a stake in Agriprocessors. He described those talks as “full-blown discussions,” and he said he was optimistic they would lead to a re-opening of the plant. He declined further comment, saying he didn’t want to jeopardize the negotiations.

Agriprocessors was the site of one of the largest single-site immigration raids in U.S. history in May. The raid, which netted 389 illegal immigrants, thrust the company into the national spotlight and gutted a large segment of its work force.

Last week, at least four companies filed lawsuits against the meatpacker including St. Louis-based First Bank, which alleged Agriprocessors defaulted on a $35 million loan and overstated how much money it had available.

Also last week, Sholom Rubashkin, a senior plant manager, was arrested and charged with federal immigration crimes for allegedly harboring hundreds of illegal workers at the plant.

Agriprocessors also has received a power disconnect notice because of unpaid bills, said Alliant Energy spokesman Ryan Stensland.

Stensland stressed that Alliant was still working with Agriprocessors to establish a payment plan. Disconnecting a customer’s power after serving notice can take between 48 hours and a week, he said.

“Disconnects are a last resort option,” Stensland said. “We have worked with them for a number of months to work out a payment option. And we’ll continue to work with them.”

Stensland said he could not disclose how much Agriprocessors owes Alliant Energy.

Meanwhile, a staffing firm that provides workers to Agriprocessors said it was awaiting confirmation that the plant would run today.

Matt Ryan, the president of Kentucky-based One Force Staffing, said his workers could continue their jobs at the plant “as long as the plant is still working.”

“We’re still waiting to hear back from them,” Ryan said. “My only comment would be that (Agriprocessors is) a customer in good standing. We don’t have any issues with them as far as finances.”

Avram Lyon, a union consultant who closely monitors the plant, said Agriprocessors apparently was butchering a few chickens and turkeys, but no cattle.

“They’re operating, but it’s a skeleton crew,” said Lyon.

Lyon works for the United Food and Commercial Workers, a union that has tried to organize Agriprocessors’ workers. He said he’s heard that potential buyers have visited the plant, but he has not heard of an impending deal.

“The smart investor might wait for the company to go into receivership, then buy it for 10 cents on the dollar,” he said.

Lyon would not speculate on the chances that the Rubashkin family could hold onto the business. He said they would quickly need to raise millions of dollars to satisfy their main lender, which is pushing for repayment of loans.

“I’ve seen rabbits get pulled out of hats before,” Lyon said. “But it would have to be an awfully big hat and a big rabbit to keep this plant going.”