GNP Company Wants To Use Former Convent For Temporary Worker Program

ST. CLOUD - The GNP Company - formerly Gold'N Plump - is struggling to find workers to fill all their job openings. So, they've come up with a plan to bring in workers from other countries. GNP wants to use a former convent at St. Anthony Church in St. Cloud to house 26 temporary seasonal workers. They would come from countries like Ukraine, Mexico, and the Philippines.

Executive Vice President Tim Wensman says they would be brought here on a nine-to-10 month visa.

They would be self supportive in which they would find transportation, they would also pay for their own housing. The workers themselves would probably, we're anticipating to have maybe five vehicles in which they may share a van and just ride share out to the Cold Spring plant and back.

Wensman says this is a new program for GNP. He says they're hoping to get the program running by February or March.

The St. Cloud City Council will hold a public hearing on the program on January 4th. The former convent would need to be rezoned, because the people living there wouldn't be directly associated with the church.

The former convent at 40 25th Avenue North in St. Cloud was built in in 1955 as a home for 31 nuns.