Borden Dairy Will Close Its 60-Year-Old Lafayette Plant in January, Cutting 149 Jobs

Borden is closing its milk plant at 1308 Bertrand Drive in Lafayette, which will officially cease operations on January 9, 2027, a shutdown that will eliminate 149 positions, according to The Advocate. Borden describes the decision as coming after exhausting all strategic alternatives. Workers were offered severance and bonus packages designed to encourage them to remain employed through the closing date, employee Tucker Myers said. A copy of the WARN notice has been requested from the Louisiana Department of Labor by local outlet Acadiana News First through a public records request. For Metaintro readers in Acadiana, the useful questions are practical ones, covering what federal law requires in each worker's notice, where Louisiana's Rapid Response team can help, and which Borden roles are still posted in the state.

What Exactly Did Borden Announce About the Lafayette Plant?

The company confirmed the closure on Tuesday, November 10. Employees were called into a brief meeting where officials broke the news and handed out packets outlining the details. The meeting was about 15 minutes long, and officials arrived with a big stack full of everybody’s packets, employee Tucker Myers recalled.

Borden pledged to manage these transitions with the utmost respect, dignity and support for employees. It is also coordinating with customers and suppliers to address changes resulting from the closure. The company determined it could no longer sustain operations in Lafayette, the statement adds.

Myers had his own read on the timing. He described a lot of delays this year, including an incident with the vault where the cooling system went down. Borden, however, has not publicly identified that incident as the reason for the closure.

After exhausting all strategic alternatives, New Dairy/Borden has made the difficult decision to permanently close its operations in Lafayette, Louisiana effective January 9, 2027, according to the Borden statement published by Acadiana News First.

Is It 149 Jobs, and Why Do Other Figures Appear?

The 149 count credited to The Advocate sits close to the nearly 150 employees facing the loss of their jobs counted by Acadiana News First.

A larger figure describes an earlier year. Data from the Lafayette Economic Development Authority, as cited by The Advocate, show the plant employed 235 people in the authority's 2024-2025 report. That figure is a past headcount, not the number losing jobs in January, and employment at the facility had already declined before the announcement.

The WARN paperwork is where a breakdown by job would appear. A full notice to the state must list the job titles of positions to be affected, and the number of affected employees in each job classification. Employers may instead send a shorter version giving the site's name and address, the name and telephone number of a company official to contact for further information, the expected date of the first separation and the number of affected employees, while keeping the fuller detail on site for state and local officials.

What Are Borden Workers Being Offered Before the Plant Closes?

Those who stay until the plant closes will receive the promised compensation, so the package depends on working to the final day. Some workers have been here for 10-plus years, Myers said, and he is particularly concerned about longtime employees who may struggle to find new work after spending much of their careers at the facility. Workers weighing a late-career move can read about the double standard older workers face on the job.

Borden's earlier closures show what it offered then. When it shut its Dothan, Alabama and Hattiesburg, Mississippi plants in 2022, Borden promised to provide notification pay, offer job transition support and the opportunity to apply for roles at other locations. At the Chemung, Illinois plant run by a related venture in 2022, NDSM Holdings committed to offering notification pay and job search assistance. When Borden shut its Plank Road plant in Baker in 2013, about 40 employees were notified and promised a severance package. The Lafayette statement does not mention transfers to other Borden sites.

What Does Federal WARN Law Require Borden to Tell Each Worker?

The federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act requires employers to provide notification 60 calendar days in advance of plant closings and mass layoffs. A plant closing is the permanent or temporary shutdown of a “single site of employment”, or one or more “facilities or operating units” within a single site of employment, if the shutdown results in an employment loss during any 30-day period at the single site of employment for 50 or more employees, excluding any part-time employees. The aim is to give workers some transition time to adjust to the prospective loss of employment, to seek and obtain alternative jobs and, where needed, to retrain.

For a worker without a union, the written notice has to cover four things, in language understandable to the employees:

• Whether the action is expected to be permanent or temporary and, if the entire plant is to be closed, a statement to that effect.
• The expected date when the plant closing or mass layoff will commence and the expected date when the individual employee will be separated.
• An indication whether or not bumping rights exist.
• The name and telephone number of a company official to contact for further information.

While part-time employees are not counted in determining whether plant closing or mass layoff thresholds are reached, such workers are due notice. Notice also must be served on the State dislocated worker unit and the chief elected official of the unit of local government where the closing happens.

There are three conditions under which the notification period may be reduced to less than 60 days, covering a faltering company, unforeseeable business circumstances and a natural disaster, and the employer bears the burden of proof that conditions for the exceptions have been met.

What Happens If an Employer Gives Less Notice Than the Law Requires?

Enforcement of WARN will be through the courts, and the Department of Labor has no legal standing in any enforcement action. In court, employees, their representatives and units of local government may initiate civil actions.

The remedy is set out in the statute. An employer that orders a plant closing in violation of the notice rule is liable to each aggrieved employee for back pay for each day of violation, paid at no less than the higher of the average regular rate received by such employee during the last 3 years of employment or the final regular rate received by such employee. It also covers lost benefits, including the cost of medical expenses incurred during the employment loss that a benefit plan would have paid.

There are limits. Liability runs for the period of the violation, up to a maximum of 60 days, but in no event for more than one-half the number of days the employee was employed by the employer. It is reduced by any wages paid by the employer to the employee for the period of the violation, by any voluntary and unconditional payment by the employer to the employee that is not required by any legal obligation, and by any payment by the employer to a third party or trustee (such as premiums for health benefits or payments to a defined contribution pension plan) on behalf of and attributable to the employee for the period of the violation. A worker can sue in any district court of the United States for any district in which the violation is alleged to have occurred, or in which the employer transacts business, and the court may award a reasonable attorney’s fee to the winning side.

Where Can Lafayette Workers Get Help Before January 9?

The Human Resources Development Institute serves as the Louisiana Works designated entity for statewide Rapid Response services, a program built to respond to mass layoffs and plant closings by quickly coordinating services and providing immediate aid to companies and their affected workers.

The services for laid-off workers include:

• Career counseling and job search assistance.
• Resume preparation and interviewing skills workshops.
• Information on the local labor market.
• Help applying for Unemployment Insurance.
• Information about education and training opportunities.

Timing matters. Meeting affected workers before the layoff allows workers to access services and programs that will help them through this difficult time, and the institute adds that workers are re-employed more quickly when services are begun before the layoff. Under federal rules, the notice sent to the state begins the process of assisting workers who will be dislocated. Rapid Response sessions can look like the job fair and playbook given to Anchor Glass workers.

Which Borden Jobs Are Still Posted in Louisiana and Other States?

Borden is still hiring elsewhere, on its current jobs board. Borden runs five production plants and 30 distribution centers across the Midwest, South, and Southeast from its Dallas headquarters. The Lafayette statement covers its operations in Lafayette, Louisiana, and makes no mention of Borden's other Louisiana locations.

Louisiana roles outside Lafayette are posted on the same board too. A part-time Merchandiser opening in Baker, LA was posted on Oct 27, 2026. A second part-time Merchandiser opening in Lake Charles, LA carries the same Oct 27, 2026 date. A full-time RSR Delivery Driver role in Baker, LA was posted on Sep 1, 2026. The merchandiser roles cover stocking, rotating, and providing excellent customer service.

Borden sites in other states also list plant and driving roles. A Production Supervisor role in London, KY was posted on Nov 4, 2026. A Maintenance Technician role in Cleveland, OH was posted on Nov 3, 2026. An RSR Delivery Driver role in Morristown, TN was posted on Nov 10, 2026, and it requires a Class B or Class A CDL. Drivers weighing those routes can compare what truck drivers earn by route and region.

Older Lafayette listings on the same board, posted in the weeks before the closure became public, show the skill mix inside the plant. They include a Raw Receiver role responsible for receiving and unloading raw milk and other fluid ingredients, collecting required quality assurance samples, a Cooler Supervisor coordinating and directing all shift-level shipping activities, and a Quality Assurance Manager role. The careers page also lets applicants create an account and enable job alerts for new listings.

What Is the History Behind the 60-Year-Old Plant?

The plant has deep roots. It opened in April 1966, when Borden unveiled a 33,400-square-foot dairy processing plant on Bertrand Drive, and by 1967, the facility employed 92 people and had an annual payroll of more than $711,000. Its role grew after Borden closed its Baton Rouge facility on Plank Road in 2013 and consolidated those bottling operations in Lafayette (the same Plank Road plant mentioned above), a move a company spokesman called part of a consolidation effort at the time.

The closure comes after years of financial challenges and restructuring. Borden filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2020, and Delaware bankruptcy court records checked by Acadiana News First show the case was closed a couple years later. Capitol Peak Partners acquired the company in 2021 for approximately $340 million, and Borden went on to close plants in several states, including Alabama, Mississippi, Illinois and Wisconsin. By late 2022, the Lafayette plant was reportedly one of only five remaining Borden fluid milk processing facilities nationwide.

September milk production was 19.44 billion pounds, up 2.4 percent from September 2025, in USDA data cited by Dairy Herd. The herd reached 9.74 million head of cows that month, which Dairy Herd calls the largest herd size in over three decades of data. Demand is shifting, with lower fat and higher protein items in favor. Borden's statement does not cite market conditions for the Lafayette decision. The brand itself dates back further than the plant, making dairy products since 1857.

Some people kind of figured it was going to happen, Borden employee Tucker Myers said, according to the Acadiana News First report.

What This Means for Borden Workers and Job Seekers, and What Should You Do Next?

The stay bonus and the job search pull in opposite directions. Because the package goes to eligible employees who remain through the closing date, anyone who gets an earlier job offer faces a trade-off. The packets handed out at the meeting set out the details.

• Check your WARN notice when it arrives. Under federal WARN rules it should give your own separation date, which may differ from the plant's final day.
• Use Rapid Response before the layoff, not after. The state Rapid Response team meets affected workers before the layoff and covers the counseling, resume and unemployment help listed above.
• Name your skills by the job, not the plant. Receiving raw milk and collecting quality assurance samples are duties on Borden's Lafayette Raw Receiver listing, so list them by name on a resume.
• Check the Borden board if you can move or drive. Openings in Baker, Lake Charles and other states sit on the company job board.

Lacey Kaelani, Metaintro's CEO, puts it this way: A closing date is also a deadline for your search. Use the weeks you still have a paycheck to line up the next job, not the weeks after it ends.

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People Also Asked

Q: When will the Borden plant in Lafayette close?

A: Borden said it will permanently close its Lafayette operations effective January 9, 2027.

Q: How many jobs will the Borden Lafayette closure cut?

A: The shutdown will eliminate 149 positions, according to The Advocate. An older count of 235 people, in Lafayette Economic Development Authority data cited by The Advocate, covers the authority's 2024-2025 report and is not the number of jobs being cut.

Q: Do Borden Lafayette workers get severance?

A: Employee Tucker Myers said workers were offered severance and bonus packages designed to encourage them to remain employed through the closing date.

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