By KEVIN WALKER
Michigan Correspondent

NEW ERA, Mich. — New Era Canning, a food processor from western Michigan, has been dogged for the past year by a lengthy investigation of its production facilities by the federal government.

Now, it may be getting some much needed help for its bottom line.
According to an employee at New Era Canning, Burnette Foods, another Michigan food processor, it is entering into an arrangement with New Era, although the exact nature of the arrangement is not clear. Jane Solem said either Burnette Foods is buying the company outright, buying a portion of it or entering into some other arrangement with the company, such as a partnership.

“It will give Burnette more product,” she said. “We share different customers.”

Ted Sherman, a member of the family that founded Burnette Foods and an executive at the company, seemed to confirm that some sort of arrangement was being worked out, though he refused to provide any details.

“It’s happening, but Burnette Foods isn’t buying it,” he said. “It’s a little early yet to discuss things.” Burnette Foods is based in East Jordan, Mich.

Several telephone calls to New Era’s president and chief financial officer were not returned; however, a published report from last summer has New Era’s president, Rick Ray, complaining about how long the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was taking with its investigation of New Era’s canned green beans, some of which were reported to have been potentially contaminated with botulism.
The FDA’s original warning on the canned goods was in December 2007. According to Solem, the investigation is still not closed.
“We still have to run things through FDA inspections,” she said. “We’ve slowly started to call people back. We’re hoping for the upside on this.”

The upside of the deal with Burnette Foods is that it would help New Era stay in business after being virtually shut down for about the past year. At its high point, New Era – which is about 100 years old – had 250 employees, but most of the workers were laid off when the FDA investigation continued.

The FDA issued new and expanded warnings about New Era’s canned products in January and February 2008. Last summer the FDA issued the company a special temporary permit that allowed it to operate on a very limited basis. The company has been able to process high acid foods, such as apple products, but those are only a small part of its business.

Although New Era Canning Co. is older than Burnette Foods, the latter company has a similar corporate culture. Burnette Foods started out as a small processor of cherry products, asparagus and green beans.

The company was incorporated in 1969 and now has three facilities, all of them in Michigan.

The earlier purchase started out as a joint venture with the Traverse City Canning Co. and the latter was a direct purchase of a facility from a group of growers.