Hershey residents worried

The town of Hershey’s – the famous maker of chocolates, known as Hershey, Pa in Pennsylvania is worried. They fear that what happened to Finland because of Nokia should not happen to them. This town, with a small population of 14,200 people employs 4,500 people from within this close-knit community surrounded by farmland. The town has roller coasters at Hershey Park, butterfly conservatory at Hershey Gardens and many other entertainment attractions and this employs some 8,000 full- and part-time workers. Yes, the entire town draws its earning, livelihood from Hershey’s.

The worry amongst the residents is that they could all become unemployed or lose their way of life if Hershey is sold of gets merged with some other company. This worry has cropped up after Mondelez, the Oreo cookie maker made a bid to buy out Hersheys for $23 billion on 30th June. The Board of Hersheys have rejected the bid but residents worry what happens when eventually, lured by a higher price, they do sell out? Modelez, when it had acquired Cadbury in 2010 assured the Britons that they would preserve the local culture but soon after, shut down the factory.

Let’s see how this cookie crumbles for Hershey’s and its residents.