Just six months after a Gold’n Plump chicken plant closed its doors and laid off about 200 local workers, an Iowa-based pork producer is planning to transform the unoccupied Luverne facility into a pork processing plant, according to the Pioneer Press.
Premium Iowa Pork says it intends to hire up to 325 full-time employees and process up to 2,200 antibiotic-free hogs per day at the facility. This is expected to occur after Luverne City Council approval July 10, and $25 million in renovations to the plant by Premium Iowa Pork. If all goes as planned, the plant will begin operating later this year.
Losing the chicken plant was a tough blow to the city of 4,700, but soon after its closing in December, multiple pork processors lined up with interest in purchasing the facility, according to the Pioneer Press. Premium Iowa Pork was the quickest, signing a letter of intent in March.