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HENEFER -- In the small Summit County town of Henefer, you can work at the post office or at Grump's general grocery store. Most people who wanted to work in town, though, worked at the Fox color photo processing lab, until yesterday.
"It was difficult to know that people who you've worked with for years and shared your lives with, that you had to be the one to tell them that they were no longer employed," the lab's former director, Shelley Olsen, says. "That's 40 people who, this morning, had nowhere to go to work."
The color photo lab shut down Monday, victim to its parent company, Kiddie Kandids, also shutting down. Kiddie Kandids specialized in children photography, but with the tough economic times the company says it could no longer operate with a profit.
"Most of the people who worked here have been here a long time. A lot of employees had 20-plus years with Kiddie Kandids," Olsen says.
For Henefer, that means a lot of people now out of work.
"It is going to affect the community greatly. It is the largest employer in town," says Henefer Mayor Randy Ovard, "It's going to be difficult for the town because so many came from the community."
Ovard says folks will now have to commute for work, but he thinks being sort of centrally located will help. Henefer is about 25 minutes from Ogden, Park City and Evanston, Wyo. When the pass on Highway 65 is open, Henefer is about 30 minutes from Salt Lake City.
Still, Ovard is hoping residents are able to find new work, especially a job with insurance benefits. For many, the benefits at the photo lab were as important as the salary.
"That will be a devastating blow to them, along with the wages lost," Ovard says.
Tyler Rasch, who was also a director at the lab, says workers have been through life trials with each other. That has developed into a sense of family. Most of them have been together at least 10 years, some even longer.
"When you work with people that long, yeah, you get pretty tight," Rasch says. "Here in Henefer, in this small town, everyone you come across is exceptional. They're all so hardworking and dedicated. All the problems I had to deal with as a manager in other places, I didn't have to deal with here. Everybody was a fantastic employee."
"Kiddie Kandids was a good place to work," Olsen says. "It was a feel-good place to work because you knew you were making memories for a lot of people, and that's special."
Now, with an unknown future, it's those memories everyone is having a tough time leaving behind.
"They are a family, and that's probably one of the most difficult things, was everybody saying goodbye yesterday," Ovard says.
The mayor says he is grateful the company was based in Henefer for close to 30 years, providing good employment for that long.
"The town appreciates this business did exist, and that it has been in business that long has been successful. It's provided a lot of people employment and they did excellent work," Ovard says.
Several local studios have offered to assist Kiddie Kandids customers who either had unfinished work or unclaimed gift certificated and promotions.
- Studio 1 Photography is offering a free photo shoot to clients who had unfinished work at Kiddie Kandids and may also have jobs for some employees who lost work. [CLICK HERE for more details]
- Fotogenix Portrait Studios will accept all gift certificates and promotions in which Kiddie Kandid customers were unable to redeem. They have three studio locations: Orem, Sandy and Syracuse.
- Val Westover Photography has made a similar offer and will honor any portrait session coupon from Kiddie Kandids.
E-mail: acabrero@ksl.com
