Imperial County declares economic emergency after Spreckels sugar plant closure

The Imperial County Board of Supervisors on a recorded roll-call vote in September 2025 declared a state of economic emergency after the Spreckels Sugar Company processing plant announced it will close at the end of the processing year, a move county officials said will cost hundreds of jobs and tens of millions of dollars in annual economic activity.

The declaration directs county staff to coordinate with federal and state agencies, workforce partners and industry stakeholders to seek emergency resources and to urge the state of California and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide direct support, including consideration of a California-specific sugar allocation (tariff-rate quota) and other measures to stabilize Imperial Valley’s sugar beet industry.

County officials and grower representatives told the board the plant’s closure will ripple across growers, trucking companies, farm labor and local businesses that support the regional agricultural economy. An economic analysis presented to the board estimated a loss of more than 430 direct jobs and over 700 total jobs when related farming, irrigation, trucking and processing are included, $35 million in lost local wages annually and roughly $242 million in annual regional economic activity tied to sugar beet production and processing.

A cou…