Aug. 9—Baldwin County Commission Chairman Henry R. Craig said he and the other four members of the county commission are "very disappointed" that Food Service Partners Inc. has closed its doors at its Milledgeville location.
"We saw it as a great opportunity for jobs and economic development in Baldwin County," Craig told The Union-Recorder during an interview last week.
The company, which opened its local facility in the old Bobby Parham Kitchen in Renaissance Park at Central State Hospital in Milledgeville two years ago, had major operations in California and New York as well as Maryland.
Food Service Partners' Angelo Bizzarro, who served as chief executive officer for nearly 25 years since he founded the company, announced last month that the company had filed for federal bankruptcy in Delaware. A federal judge has since approved the company's request to seek debt relief from its creditors under Chapter 7.
"Mr. Bizzarro had a huge business," Craig said. "And like so many businesses, his company had difficulty through COVID-19, the hiring of employees, with contracts and meeting those contracts, as well as other complications that encompassed a very large portion of the company — Milledgeville was the very smallest part. It's all the other parts that perhaps played the biggest role for Mr. Bizzarro and his company having to declare bankruptcy."
Craig said another problem, like many companies throughout the United States since COVID-19, was the fact that Food Service Partners Inc. faced supply difficulties.
"Just take that and magnify it across the country among different companies," Craig said. "That's been a major problem for many companies and it remains a major problem today for many companies here in the U.S. and in foreign countries."
Craig pointed out that such supply issues also create other problems, such as shortages in manpower, etc.
"We were all big dreamers in this project and we all prayed for the success of this company here in Milledgeville and Baldwin County," Craig said. "The business plan didn't fit the circumstances of our country and our world at the time."
The commission chairman said he and other commissioners weren't the only ones disappointed at hearing the news about Food Service Partners.
"There are a lot of people in our community who are extremely disappointed, including the employees who worked at the local facility," Craig said. "He really, really wanted to see the Milledgeville operation succeed. I was told that within his bankruptcy strategy that he wanted Milledgeville and Baldwin County to be the best survivor. But the bankruptcy judge didn't agree."