Feb 4, 2026 By Paul Paterra 2 min read

Fourth Street Foods is officially under new ownership

U.S. Magistrate Judge Patricia L. Dodge approved the sale of the Mon Valley frozen foods business on Jan. 21, and the sale closed Jan. 30. Wisconsin-based Morski Foods purchased the Charleroi-area business for $3 million.

“We have a transitional service agreement through the end of February because we need to transfer payroll and everything else,” said Mark Welch, who was appointed by a federal judge to handle Fourth Street’s assets after the company was sued for millions in unpaid loans.

While waiting for the sale to be approved, Morski Foods funded operations at Fourth Street, including payroll, materials and rent for the facility. The previous owners had given the state notice in October that they intended to shut down the business. Doing so would have left 252 workers, many of whom are immigrants, without jobs.

Welch said “well over 100” employees have retained their jobs, including contractors. This also includes many of the immigrants who had been employed by Fourth Street Foods.

“Those are the hardest workers,” Welch said.

Around the time the now-former owners of Fourth Street gave notice they would close the business, Huntingdon Bank sued, claiming they’d defaulted on $90 million in loans for which the business was collateral.

As part of the sale, Welch said Huntingdon Bank released any interest in the business and its assets, paving the way for the sale. However, this does not put an end to Huntingdon’s lawsuit as the bank could pursue action against the former owners of Fourth Street who took out the loan.

The business also was hit with a commercial lawsuit Oct. 27 in Washington County Court. The suit claims the company failed to pay $2.9 million for more than 1.2 million pounds of cheese products delivered between July and October.

Founded in 2014, Fourth Street Foods manufactures frozen food products for branded and private label retailers throughout the United States. Morski Foods specializes in packaged food and commissary ingredients, including ready-to-edit products. The company has been in operation since 1961.

Joe Manning, Charleroi borough manager, said the continued operation of the company’s Speers facility has a positive economic impact on the area.

“The fact that they were able to close on this and keep it in operation is a good thing,” he said.