By DOUG SCHMITZ
Iowa Correspondent DES MOINES, Iowa — The former Agriprocessors plant reopened last week under new management, a new name – and a dark cloud that still looms nearly two years after federal agents raided the facility, arresting almost 400 illegal aliens and several top company officials.
“We’re proud of our progress,” said Hershey Friedman, new owner of Agri Star Meat and Poultry, LLC, at an April 13 news conference held at the Iowa Statehouse in Des Moines. “It has been a journey, but we have made real progress.”
In May 2008, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents armed with several search warrants raided the Postville-based plant, following a tip from former company employees, apprehending 389 illegal workers from Mexico, Guatemala and Eastern Europe – all of whom will finish deportation by the end of this month.
An investigation led to the company’s bankruptcy and convictions of several high-level managers, including company Vice President Sholom Rubashkin. Rubashkin is scheduled to be sentenced April 28 on a series of federal financial fraud charges, which include bank fraud, money-laundering and child labor and wage violations. He also faces other charges related to employing illegal aliens.
Last August, Friedman bought the plant, which has since been given a $7.4 million upgrade he is overseeing. The Iowa Department of Economic Development recently gave Agri Star $600,000 in grants and forgivable loans, plus tax credits, to help assist in plant upgrades.
At the news conference, Friedman said Agri Star, which employs 560 people, currently slaughters 85-90 cattle per day, will slaughter 150 per day within a month and more than 500 per day within a year.
A Montreal businessman, Friedman said he hopes to eventually expand the new plant to increase production to 1,000 cattle per day. He said the 85-90 cattle now are more than 87 percent fewer cattle than what the former Agriprocessors could do, which slaughtered up to 700 cattle per day, at its peak.
According to Bruce Berven, executive vice president of the Iowa Cattlemen’s Assoc. (ICA), Iowa’s beef industry lost $24 million when Agriprocessors closed, which he said created “a void” in northeastern Iowa. He said this forced state producers to take their cattle to another large beef processing plant in Denison, or to out-of-state facilities, and sell it in a less competitive market.
“When (Agriprocessors) closed, cattle prices in the state of Iowa declined, at least in the short-term, by $2 to $4 per cwt.,” Berven told Radio Iowa. “Given that we had about 1.2 million head of cattle on feed … that caused us to lose $24 million, and given the trickle-down effect, you can see that had an impact not only on cattle producers, but on the entire state of Iowa.”
Berven said Iowa cattle prices paid have bounced back since Agri Star restarted its beef production. He said he’s optimistic the company’s buying power will provide a significant, positive economic turnaround for Iowa’s 10,000 beef producers, Postville, northeastern Iowa and the state in general.
Friedman told reporters the company has completed the initial startup of its new beef operations and plans to soon reach full capacity in its state-of-the-art kosher beef line.
“Eight months ago I came to Iowa and started Agri Star Meat & Poultry,” he said. “At that time, I made a commitment to create a quality workplace where we could improve quality jobs and fair wages, while producing quality chickens, turkeys, beef and deli products for the kosher consumers.
“We feel that we can grow back to the same position that (Agriprocessors was). We are on our way. We made commitments, we’re honoring those commitments.”
Friedman said he hopes to restore the plant’s longtime standing as the world’s largest kosher meatpacker, and as the nation’s only kosher beef supplier.
Agri Star is now using a federally organized electronic system, called E-Verify, to ensure company employees are in the country legally. Friedman said wages on the beef line would be $12-$17 per hour, adding more workers as the plant increases production.
“I am not from Iowa, and I did not grow up on a farm, but I know the importance of hard work and treating people with respect and integrity,” he said.
Friedman said the new chicken line is back up and running, with starting pay for workers set at $8.50, which will increase after workers have put in three months.
He’s concentrating on marketing Agri Star’s kosher chicken, turkey and beef products as American-raised and American-produced. |
