Cargill to Hire 200 Workers at NE Meat Processing Plant

More than 200 workers are needed to fill positions at a Cargill Meat Solutions processing plant Columbus, NE as the plant becomes commences full operations this April after a $111 million conversion to shift production from beef patties to cooked meat products, the Columbus Telegram reported Sunday.

“We want to recruit as many workers who will come to Columbus,” the plant’s human resources manager, Kim Schumacher, told the Telegram.

Launched by Cargill in December 2015, the conversion expanded the plant from 108,000 sq ft to 160,000 sq ft, costing about $27 million, according to the newspaper, and $85 million was invested in new equipment to process the cooked meat products.

Company officials told the Telegram that the plant will have a capacity of about 100 million lbs of meat products in its first year of operation, and production could double in the year following.

The newspaper noted that the conversion and new hires are part of Cargill Protein’s on-going initiative to invest and grow the production capabilities of the Wichita, KS-based firm.

“Cargill has made a significant investment in acquisitions and expansions over the last 15 to 18 months, well over $500 million, to improve production capabilities of our protein group,” Mike Martin, director of communications of Cargill Protein told the Telegram.

“The Columbus plant will pay a key role in that growth,” said Martin.

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