Note: This story was originally published by the Montana Free Press.

Hi-Country Snack Foods, a Lincoln-based company renowned for its beef jerky, laid off 16 people earlier this summer, the company confirmed.

“The people in Lincoln have been nothing short of amazing, and we’re deeply grateful for the way this community has supported the business. That’s why this decision has been so hard,” Wyatt Nielson, the company’s marketing officer, wrote in an email Tuesday to Montana Free Press. “Hi-Country has faced financial challenges for many years, even before our ownership, and while we wish we didn’t have to take this step, we had to make some tough choices to keep the business going.”

According to Nielson, nine employees remain at the company’s production facility and retail space, the T

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