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EASTERN IOWA
Tyson plant reopening excites Buchanan business leaders
Reporter: Tim Kenyon
tim@corridorbiznews.com
Buchanan County Economic Development Commission officials are thrilled about the growth potential with the reopening of the Tyson Food plant in Independence.
“We’re exceptionally excited to have something in there again. We’ve been working hard to get something back in there,” said Ellen Gaffney, commission vice president and a county supervisor.
The plant closed in early 2006 and left 300 people jobless. A sister plant in Oelwein also was closed and resulted in about 100 jobs lost.
“It was quite a shock, devastating,” said George Lake, the commission’s economic development director when the plant closed. Mr. Lake left later to take his present position as Marion Economic Development Co. president and CEO.
Production of pet food treats will start in early 2010 after Tyson invests about $6.6 million to install equipment and make other improvements in the 132,000-square-foot facility.
The new operation will initially employ about 60 people, including production workers and management, spokesman Gary Mickelson said.
“It’s a boom,” Ms. Gaffney said, considering many employees in the former operation have struggled to find jobs.
The new operation is expected to grow to more than 100 employees within the next couple of years, Mr. Mickelson said.
The plant reopening during tough economic times will spark the community, said Greg Halvorson, economic development director until moving recently for a similar job in Council Bluffs.
“I think any time you have opportunities for job growth in a recessionary period, it’s exciting. It’s a great opportunity for the city,” said Mr. Halvorson, who helped coordinate talks for the plant reopening.
The announcement came relatively quickly as Tyson and local leaders started talks that took less than two months ago, he said.
Other meat-type production companies approached the economic group in the past three years, but Tyson remained the property owner and wasn’t interested in allowing another company to operate in the facility, Ms. Gaffney said.
She hopes it may entice other related or indirect businesses to the county.
As an example she noted a Monsanto DeKalb Corn Seed Production plant opened 16 months after the Heartland Acres Agribition Center opened in Independence. The agricultural history facility opened in May 2007.
Tyson received financial incentives from the city, county and state.
The county committed $50,000 annually for the next three years from local-option sales funds to assist the plant reopening, Ms. Gaffney said.
The Independence City Council approved a $96,000, 10-year tax increment financing deal for Tyson, and an exemption to allow the company to use its own well rather than city water, a savings of almost $700,000.
The Iowa Economic Development Board voted earlier this month to approve incentives that included a $400,000 forgivable loan to Tyson.
For competitive concerns, Tyson representatives declined to provide specific details about the pet treats. The company said it plans to sell products made at Independence nationally under multiple brand names.
“The $3 billion pet treats market has experienced more than an 8 percent compound annual sales growth over the past five years and does not appear to be adversely affected by the economic slow down,” Dave Hogberg, general manager of Pet Products for Tyson, said in a press release. “We believe this is an area of great opportunity and this initiative is a natural extension of our strategy to value-up raw materials into higher margin categories.”
Tyson has been part of supplying raw materials for pet foods, but this will be the first company facility to produce finished, retail-ready pet products.
Mr. Mickelson said hourly wages will be above the $13.32 average for the county; employees will also receive health and dental insurance, 401k fund availability, a stock purchase plan and paid vacation and holidays.
Hiring for plant maintenance and production positions will begin in early November, after the human resources staff is in place. Interested applicants should click on the following web site on or after Nov. 2 for more information: http://www.tyson.com/Corporate/Careers/SearchJobs.aspx. CBJ
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