ASHLAND , Ohio ( CNN ) -- An Ohio bakery shut down in October is bustling again , with 60 eager employees who had expected a Christmas on the unemployment rolls . Cookie production has resumed and some workers are back on the job at the Archway factory in Ashland , Ohio . Some 300 workers lost their jobs when the Archway cookie factory in Ashland , Ohio , was suddenly closed by the private equity firm that owned it . The workers also were left without benefits like health insurance . But then Lance Inc. , a Charlotte , North Carolina-based snack food company , purchased Archway at a bankruptcy auction . And last week 60 workers were asked to return immediately , with perhaps more coming back in the months ahead . Kathy Sexton , a worker at the bakery , had been preparing her children for a very modest holiday . Watch the holiday brighten for workers » . `` They said they understood , '' Sexton recalls . `` They said , 'That 's all right , Mom . ' You always want to give them more , but ... I did n't think I would be able to . '' Now she can . Tiny Ashland has been struggling . Ohio has lost 200,000 jobs over the past eight years . The recent presidential campaign saw both candidates visiting frequently . The outlook in Ashland became especially bleak when the Archway plant closed . Workers at the bakery said they felt betrayed when Archway at first said there would be more work in a day or two , but then changed the locks . Rita Devan remembers . `` They just kept taking and taking until there was nothing left to take , '' Devan says , `` and they did n't care that they were putting 300 people out of work . '' Things are different now . When it promised to reopen the bakery , Lance gave all 300 former Archway workers a $ 1,500 prepaid debit card . `` I was crying , '' Devan says of the gift . `` I am like , 'What are these people doing ? They do n't know me . They do n't know us . They do n't know any of the Archway people . And they are giving each and every one of us $ 1,500 . ' `` Sexton -- the woman who 'd been preparing her kids for a meager holiday -- says of the $ 1,500 gift : `` It was awesome . My first thought was , ' I can give my kids a Christmas . ' `` David Singer , CEO of Lance , says the gift cards were a way of letting Ashland know the new owners are different . `` We would n't do it willy-nilly , '' Singer says . `` We do want to make money . But this is the pool of folks that we intend to hire . We just wanted to let them know who we were . '' The 60 workers rehired so far are earning their previous salary and retained their seniority . They also were provided health insurance from day one . The bakery now produces Lance cookies that are sold to big chains like Target and Wal-Mart . But production of Archway cookies is scheduled to resume soon . Lance has told the employees that it hopes to have the plant fully operational by the end of 2009 -- that is , five lines of cookies being produced simultaneously . The new owners say that if new orders keep flowing in , more jobs will follow . Terry Mowry is another worker rehired by Lance . He says what has happened is hard to describe : `` You just saw life being breathed right back into the face of these people . '' And Devan says with a laugh : `` I walked into the garage last night , and my husband says , 'You actually smell like a cookie again . ' `` `` He said , 'Boy , I missed that smell . ' ``
Lance bakery suddenly closed doors in the end of 2009 , throwing 60 out of work . Lance snack food company steps in , buys Archway at bankruptcy auction . New owner gives each laid-off worker a prepaid $ 1,500 debit card . Company rehires some 300 workers , says more will regain jobs if orders keep coming in .