  From today's urlLink World paper: Bandon Cheese to be made, packaged elsewhere By Amy Moss Strong, Staff Writer After announcing last week that Bandon Cheese will no longer be made at the Bandon Cheese Factory, Manager Brad Sinko learned that packaging will no longer be done at the site. According to Sinko, the Tillamook County Creamery Association, which owns the Bandon Cheese Factory, halted cheese production at the plant and will phase out packaging of the various cheeses made at the factory within the next month. "They are shutting down packaging, too," Sinko said. The last vat of cheese was made at the historic factory on Nov. 30. "They are shutting down all the cold rooms and the packaging building and trying to out-source the flavored cheeses to be made and packaged somewhere else," Sinko said.
Tillamook Creamery will continue to market cheese using the Bandon Cheese label, but the product will be made at the association's plant in Boardman, he said. Cliff Brady, Tillamook's vice president of operations, was in town last week to look at decommissioning the cheesemaking and packaging equipment, which will probably be sold, Sinko said. The decision to move cheesemaking operations will likely be bad news for some of the 18 full-time employees, Sinko added.
"There's going to be layoffs," he said. "Right now it will only affect packaging and cheesemaking employees and we won't be hiring any seasonal employees; just a few in the summer months for the retail operations. "Eight employees will be affected and either reassigned or laid off," he added. The Bandon Cheese Factory has been a popular tourist stop for travelers on the South Coast for many years. The retail store will continue to sell cheddar, flavored and specialty cheeses, among other items, according to Christie Lincoln, communications director for TCCA.
The Tillamook County Creamery Association purchased the plant and retail operations in May 2000 from Joe Sinko and Leo Mottau, both of Bandon. Brad Sinko, who took over as manager last May, said a meeting to announce plans to employees has been scheduled by Tillamook executives for tomorrow in Bandon. _____________________ Sucks. That's part of the fun of Bandon. They make killer cheese, too. 
