Uncle Charley’s Sausage has had no COVID-19 cases at local plant

PARKS TOWNSHIP, Pa. — The doors to Uncle Charley’s Sausage Company are locked in an effort to keep the coronavirus shut out of the pork production plant.

Uncle Charley’s in Parks Township, Armstrong County, has 61 employees, and so far, all 61 are healthy. And that’s thanks in part to early safety measures.

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“We’re checking temps every morning. We're asking the employees how they feel. We have face masks on at all times in the plant. No one's allowed inside the plant who's not necessary,” said Len Caric, CEO of Uncle Charley’s Sausage Company.

So far, Uncle Charley’s remains unscathed.

But just 14 miles down the road, the Smithfield plant in Arnold has had 12 confirmed cases.

Meantime, some of the largest pork producing plants in the country have shut down indefinitely because of growing COVID-19 cases, leading to growing concerns of a meat shortage.

But for Uncle Charley’s, there’s no shortage of supply or demand.

“I talk with our pork supplier on a daily basis just to see what’s coming, but there is quite a demand still from the grocery stores. And I think some are still struggling to get product in, so they’ll take what we can get them,” Caric said.

Just in April, Uncle Charley’s processed 2,000 to 4,000 pounds of pork more per day than normal, but the CEO said it’s a balancing act.

“(We are) keeping the virus out and keeping our employee’s safe. We can’t produce as much as we’d like to produce, but we’re doing the best we can,” Caric said.

The company said it’s telling employees to be consistent. Just because we’re moving into this yellow phase Friday, the company does not want workers to become complacent with following those guidelines and safety measures.

Pennsylvania’s meat facilities getting hit hardest by COVID-19 in U.S., CDC says Pennsylvania’s meat facilities getting hit hardest by COVID-19 in U.S., CDC says

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