Plans to help displaced workers aren’t final, but they are developing quickly after Monday’s announcement of Hopkins Manufacturing’s immediate shutdown.
Kansas WorkforceONE, long known as KansasWORKS, is encouraging displaced workers to reach out, either by going online to ksworkforceone.org or by calling 785-493-8018, to get more information about career guidance and exploration, job search help, skills and on-the-job training, resource help including unemployment and/or resume and interview planning. Employees can also email admin@ksworkforceone.org for information.
This is part of conversations to get Hopkins workers connected with resources and, hopefully, new jobs as soon as possible. Kansas WorkforceONE spokesman Jim Jenkins says the immediate goal is to get affected workers to stop by the Emporia Workforce Center inside the Humanitarian Center.
Jenkins also says a job fair is likely coming soon, although the date is pending. Jenkins actually tells KVOE News several Hopkins employees didn’t wait to seek out services.
Kansas WorkforceONE reached out unsuccessfully for several weeks to First Brands before the conglomerate announced the Hopkins closure and related job cuts Monday.
The work through Kansas WorkforceONE is happening in conjunction with the reconvening of Emporia’s Rapid Response Task Force, which last met this past November. The first Rapid Response meeting connected to the Hopkins situation is Friday afternoon.
11:45 am Tuesday: Rapid Response Task Force finalizing meeting schedule to help displaced Hopkins employees
Plans are developing to help the 130 Hopkins employees who are either out of a job already or will be by the end of April, following Monday’s immediate closure announcement by Hopkins’ parent company, First Brands.
Southeast KansasWORKS is encouraging displaced workers to reach out, either by going online to ksworkforceone.org or by calling 785-493-8018, to get more information about career guidance and exploration, job search help, skills and on-the-job training, resource help including unemployment and/or resume and interview planning. Employees can also email admin@ksworkforceone.org for information.
Emporia’s Rapid Response Task Force, initially used to help Tyson workers through a lengthy shutdown period starting in December 2024 and an offshoot of the city’s Rapid Response team used in large-scale unemployment settings for years, will meet soon, although the schedule is not yet settled. City leaders, meanwhile, have been considering a potential Hopkins shutdown — and the local response — for months. Here’s Regional Development Association of East Central Kansas Interim President Lyle Butler:
Locally, Butler says everything was done to keep Hopkins operating.
Butler says assisting affected employees is the city’s top priority at this time.
Butler’s comments follow First Brands’ WARN Notice to city leadership announcing the immediate closure of the plant, with 118 employees terminated effective Monday and the remaining 12 to be terminated April 30. City officials have told KVOE News First Brands held on to all Hopkins’s intellectual property as part of its bankruptcy process, essentially making a sale far less appealing to a prospective buyer than it could have been. Butler says the city was poised to help if things had turned out differently.
While an announcement has been made about staffing, there has been no such announcement about the production plant at 428 Peyton or other property. Butler says the bankruptcy court will determine how the property side of the process will move forward. He also says the RDA will help to market the property if allowed by the court.
First Brands WARN Notice to City of Emporia
5:15 pm Monday: Hopkins closing immediately after sale effort falls through
Established back in 1953, Emporia’s Hopkins Manufacturing is essentially no more.
First Brands, Hopkins’ parent company, has sent Emporia city leadership a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notice, or WARN, saying it has closed the plant at 428 Peyton on Monday. The closure immediately impacts 118 employees. The remaining 12 have been tasked with “assisting with matters related to the closure” before they will be let go April 30.
A letter from First Brands to the city says First Brands “has gone to great lengths to avoid closing this facility,” adding many potential bidders were interested in Hopkins and one unnamed bidder went relatively deep into the sale process before “suddenly and unexpectedly” withdrawing its bid. Left unsaid in the statement to Emporia, and confirmed by city officials, was First Brands had claimed all Hopkins’ intellectual property, meaning any new parent company could only use Hopkins equipment as opposed to the Hopkins brand or any others associated with Hopkins.
First Brands also says it tried unsuccessfully to bring another bidder to the table — and a sale was the only way it could generate the capital needed to continue local operations.
The closure means Emporia’s Rapid Response Team will be activated to help the displaced workers. A plan is being developed. Regional Development Association of East Central Kansas Interim President Lyle Butler has not returned a call from KVOE News seeking more information on any assistance plans for Hopkins staff.
Hopkins operated independently for almost 60 years before it was bought by Oncap in 2011. First Brands bought Hopkins in late 2023. Less than two years later, it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. First Brands’ founder, Patrick James, and his brother, Edward, a former First Brands executive, have been charged in federal court with wire fraud, bank fraud and conspiracy in relation to First Brands’ financial collapse.
3:15 pm Monday: Hopkins employees getting verbal termination notices after sale falls through
Less than two weeks ago, there was optimism at Hopkins Manufacturing with the thought a buyer would step in and purchase the operation.
That optimism has faded because the deal has fallen through. As a result, plant management is calling employees to let them know they have been terminated. Official notices are coming later. A plant closure date has not been announced.
The unspecified buyer backed away after learning First Brands, Hopkins’ parent company, had claimed all Hopkins’ intellectual property, thus meaning any new parent company could use the Hopkins equipment but could not use the Hopkins brand or any others associated with Hopkins if it bought the company.
A court could rule on whether the proposed purchase includes Hopkins’ intellectual property. If that happens and the court says intellectual property can be included, there is a chance the sale could proceed.
First Brands continues a bankruptcy process after current leadership filed for Chapter 11 protection last fall. Meanwhile, founder Patrick James and his brother, Edward, a former First Brands executive, face nearly 10 criminal counts each in federal court on charges of wire fraud, bank fraud and conspiracy.
Word on when Hopkins will wind down its operations is pending. Hopkins has been operating locally since 1953. The last report from the company to the Regional Development Association of East Central Kansas had over 160 employees as of January 2025. City Manager Trey Cocking says there has been no report to city management about the Hopkins situation.
