The Iowa Economic Development Authority has approved state incentives for three businesses that have promised to create 150 new jobs.
IEDA spokesperson, Jacque Matsen, says Cargill was awarded tax benefits through the High Quality Jobs program for a $125 million expansion of its Eddyville plant. “This is particularly exciting given right now the ag economy. We all know that producers are struggling and the ag companies that supply them and process their products are as well, “Matsen says. It’s exciting to see Cargill investing so significantly in Eddyville.”
The plans call for construction of new office space, new and upgraded bioprocessing equipment, expanded capacity of its wastewater facility and expansion of research and development. “It’s our understanding that this expansion is just the beginning and they anticipate that the work they are going to do on this project will set them up for further expansion,” according to Matsen.
The company promises 17 new jobs at a wager or more than $17-an-hour.
Hormel won tax benefits to bring jobs from Nebraska to its plant in Dubuque. “Hormel foods had built a newer plant over in the Dubuque area, and now has decided to move this additional processing line from Nebraska over to the Dubuque facility for the benefit of the Dubuque community — because it will mean an additional 58 jobs for the community,” she says. The jobs will pay of a little more than $23-an-hour
The Dubuque plant originally opened in January 2010 to produce microwave meals and canned chunk chicken. The plant was later expanded to produce the SPAM® products and bacon bits. This project will add capacity in the SPAM® products production by moving a production line currently in Fremont, Nebraska, to Dubuque.
The company plans to invest $13 million into the plant. Upper Iowa Beef in northeast Iowa also won tax benefits. “This is a locally sourced state-of-the-art beef processing facility in Lime Springs. It was previously called Lime Springs Beef and now is changing to Upper Iowa Beef as they look to expand their production capacity,” Matsen says.
She says they want a big increase in their production. “They’ve been very successful in their first couple of years of operation and now are looking to add additional square footage onto their existing facility — which will mean they will be able to increase their processing capacity from about 500 head to about 1,500 head per week,” Matsen explains.
The additional capacity will require them to hire more workers. “It’s a total of 75 additional jobs in the community, and it’s an also nearly seven-million dollar capital investment going into the Lime Springs area,” Matsen says. Twenty of the new jobs will have a wage of nearly $22-an-hour.