Sun-Times closing 2nd Chicago-area plant

The Sun-Times Media Group Inc. will shutter its suburban Chicago printing plant used to print its Pioneer Press publications.
Journal Communications, which prints the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, said it’s in discussions with STMG to take over the printing, but that no deal had yet been signed.
The Pioneer plant, in suburban Northfield, employs about 70 workers. The plant is scheduled to close before the year-end. Earlier this year, STMG also shuttered a plant it formerly operated in west suburban Chicago.
The shutdown of the plant won’t affect STMG’s downtown Chicago production facility, which produces the flagship Chicago Sun-Times and other papers.
The consolidation comes as STMG negotiates with bidders interested in purchasing the struggling publisher, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this year.
Published reports said that a local group, Mesirow Financial Holdings Inc., is the leading suitor.