TAMA, Iowa — Iowa Premium Beef held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at its newly renovated Tama beef processing facility last week. Governor Terry Branstad and Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds joined Jeffrey Johnson, CEO of Iowa Premium Beef, and Tama Mayor Dan Zimmerman at this event.
"We are thrilled to have this positive impact on the community and to provide folks with quality, high-paying careers," said Johnson. "We are dedicated to our employees' success and are excited to provide a number of continuing education options to help them grow in the careers. We truly believe that, as we grow, the community grows."
Iowa Premium Beef is set to begin production in early November and will employ more than 600 workers at the outset. These 600 jobs, significant capital investment, and increase in tax base are crucial for the Tama-Toledo community and the overall beef industry in Iowa.
"Iowa Premium Beef jobs will help to sustain families here in Tama and across the state," said Governor Terry Branstad. "They'll inject energy into the local community. They'll make Tama's economy, and the economy of the entire state of Iowa, more competitive."
During the next 20 weeks, Iowa Premium Beef will ramp up production to 1,100 head of cattle per day – the vast majority of which will be sourced from within 150 miles of Tama. Iowa Premium Beef is dedicated to purchasing from local family feeder farms and will market premium, Black Angus products both domestically and internationally.
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"Iowa Premium Beef is poised to invest more than $900 million annually in the purchase of family farm-raised beef from regional providers," said Lt. Governor Reynolds. "And they're going to do it in a manner that employs humane and environmentally sound practices to ensure that their impact on our community is a wholly positive one."
"This facility will impact the workforce here in Tama in a big way," said Zimmerman. "In just a matter of days, it will put 600 employees to work at wages well above minimum wage. Even better, there this facility has the potential to add over 300 additional workers when operating at maximum production levels, for a total of over 1,000 jobs – jobs that we need here in Tama."
For more information about Iowa Premium Beef and its products, visit iowapremiumbeef.com.
