Tama residents hailing the planned re-opening of a business are having to wait longer than they’d anticipated. After going through a few changes of ownership Tama Pack closed in 1999, and it looked like the end. Last year, however, two groups wound up bidding to buy it — Agriprocessors, the owners of a successful meatpacking plant in Postville, and a group of some 950 independent cattle producers. Iowa Quality Beef Supply won out, and announced that American Foods, a Green Bay, Wisconsin company was going to manage the plant. The new owners set out to make major renovations to the plant, promising that when it reopened it would be a leader in product safety. In mid-February a call went out for would-be workers to get their applications in, and 300 people showed up. A second round of interviews was to follow. The opening date for the plant was set for March 17, then pushed back to April first, then mid-April. It’s not clear yet whether that will be the opening date.
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