The company that operates pork processing facilities in Marshalltown and Ottumwa plans to build a new sausage-making plant in Perry.
JBS USA has announced it will spend $135 million on the Perry project and plans to begin making sausage at the plant late next year. JBS expects to employ 500 full-time workers when the plant is at full capacity, but will start with a single shift of 250.
Nearly a year ago, Tyson closed its pork plant in Perry where 1300 had been employed. In a news release from JBS, Perry Mayor Dirk Cavanaugh said the new, state-of-the-art facility is “a potential game-changer for Perry.”
The plant will process half a million sows each year. “The supplier opportunities will definitely be there at this facility and we’re excited about that,” said Nikki Richardson, JBS communications director. “We will be sourcing from certainly from within Iowa and from surrounding states as well.”
The facility will produce an estimated 130 million pounds of fresh sausage each year. Richardson says JBS hasn’t yet decided how that sausage will be branded. “What I can tell you is that our customers tell us they want these type of products,” Richardson said. “…Things like sausage links and sausage patties and things of that nature.”
JBS plants in Ottumwa and Marshalltown may provide some of the pork that’s made into sausage in Perry. “We definitely feel like the location in Perry is strategically located for a number of reasons,” Richardson said, “and that’s one of them.”
Richardson indicated the company chose to build a brand new facility in Perry after considering sites in other communities and whether existing plants could be upgraded. “Our goal here is for this facility to be around for the next 75 to 100 years and many of the facilities that are already in place are older and would require a lot of updates,” Richardson told Radio Iowa. “…We felt like we’d be better off investing on the front end to build a facility that would be very modern, state-of-the-art, efficient.”
JBS was founded in Brazil over 70 years ago and is the world’s largest meat processor.
(This post was updated at 4:10 p.m. with additional informaiton)