A kosher meat packing plant in Postville that revitalized the job picture in a part of northeast Iowa has expanded into a neighboring state. This week is a grand opening celebration for Local Pride, a packing plant in Gordon, Nebraska. The Local Pride plant opened last July, but plant manager Gary Ruse says they wanted to wait until it was in full operation before holding a grand opening.
All the areas of the plant are now open, inclduing processing, boning, packing and shipping. Also attending will be members of the Rubashkin family, who opened the Postville plant in Iowa more than ten years ago. They produce kosher meat, and the high quality of their products has attracted world attention and international customers.
The owners are Hasidim, members of a strict Jewish sect. Ruse is pleased that they’ll be appearing at the grand opening of the expansion plant. Some of the owners live in Iowa, some in New York. Some of the family members will be on hand for the opening of their second plant and see the changes that have taken place.
Ruse says while the Nebraska plant has been in operation less than a year, it’s already had a strong impact on the local and regional economies.
The plant buys livestock from five or six different states, and with new areas of the plant open now he says they’ll be able to handle even more livestock. This week’s grand opening in Nebraska includes a kosher barbecue.