American Foods Group’s newest facility in Warren County, America’s Heartland Packing, welcomed over 600 community members to an open house event hosted Saturday.
Prior to the event Saturday, the facility hosted several members of the media, who were given an opportunity to tour the plant.
The new facility, which is located east of Wright City and officially opened its doors April 10, represents an $800 million capital investment in the community.
According to a released issue by the company, after the company evaluated more than 3,000 counties across the continental U.S., AFG selected Warren County as its home thanks to the quality of the state’s cattle inventory, strong producer base and business friendly climate.
During Friday’s tour, AFG President and COO David Jagodzinske said that in the meat packing industry labor is the number one challenge they face.
Locally though the company has had a strong showing with respect to finding and retaining a labor force.
AFG Executive Vice President of Operations Kevin Fairchild said, “We feel like we have been very successful with our original plans and have come to fruition with the local interest for labor.”
Fairchild said that currently the plant has about 600 employees, with the goal of full capacity set at 1,300 to 1,400 employees.
The company is continuing to expand its workforce as Chief Human Resources Officer Amy Bodkin said the facility has five job fairs planned within the next 60 days. Bodkin said the company is also working closely with local community colleges to foster programs that could lead to employment in the field.
The facility has the capacity to process 2,400 head of cattle per day, according to officials who spoke during the tour Friday. Officials also said the company takes cattle producers of all sizes.
“We rely on a mix of different sources of cattle from auction barns around the country,” Jagodzinske said. “We also have contract cattle that we have coming to us.”
The company doesn’t just rely on larger producers or cattle auctions though. Jagodzinske said local producers can drive into the facility, walk in and talk to the facility’s cattle payables clerks and have a check to purchase their cattle that day, before they leave the facility.
According to officials and the tour itself, the facility is state-of-the-art, with advanced automation and robotics designed for safety in the facility.
During the tour officials noted the various food safety measures the company has taken to ensure their products are safe for consumption.
“We are proud of what we have done on the food safety side,” Jagodzinske said, noting that the facility is structured so that there is no cross contamination from the harvest side of the facility to the fabrication side of the facility.
One of the other aspects of the facility, touted by Executive Vice President of Marketing Jennifer Dibbern, is that the facility is the first and only beef harvesting facility in the world to earn LEED Green Building Certification, which relates to the facility being an environmentally responsible construction, energy efficient and having the highest standards of operational performance.
According to a release submitted by the company, the facility is a zero-exposure building, meaning no untreated air, water or waste leaves the site.
