Four-hundred jobs at the Tyson beef slaughtering plant in Denison are in jeopardy. Tyson spokesman, Gary Mikelson, says the company is expanding its Dakota City, Nebraska meat processing plant, and that means Tyson may no longer need the smaller plant in Dension.
He says they have not made a final decision yet, but he says if the Denison facility did close, the employees would be encouraged to seek jobs at the Dakota City plant. Dakota City, Nebraska is across the Iowa border near Sioux City, about 80-miles west of the Denison’s Tyson Foods beef processing plant.
Mikelson says the decision is based on the availability of cattle to slaughter in the Denison area. “This is a very difficult scenario to consider, given the impact it would have on our people and the long history that that plant has had in the meat industry. However, unless area cattle supplies increase significantly, it may make sense to discontinue operations there next year,” Mikelson says.
Mikelson says they are making millions of dollars in upgrades at the Dakota City plant, and will add 200 job there. He says the work should be done by the middle of 2013.
Woody Gottburg, KSCJ, Sioux City contributed to this story.