Records Show Lack of Contact Before Oscar Mayer Layoff Announcement

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Newly released records point to a reason for the lack of contact between Wisconsin's job-creation agency and Kraft Heinz before the food conglomerate announced the closing of Madison's Oscar Mayer plant last year.

The Wisconsin State Journal reports a top executive at Wisconsin's largest business lobby dissuaded the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. from contacting Kraft Heinz about its future plans.

Emails released to the newspaper show Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce had alerted the agency in June that other states were seeking to lure Kraft Heinz plants out of Wisconsin.

The emails show the agency decided not to contact Kraft Heinz after talking to an official of the business group.

That official, Jim Morgan, said Wednesday the conversation was about the company's Beaver Dam cheese plant — not Oscar Mayer.