Perry City Administrator Sven Peterson reveals the contributing factor that led to Tyson’s announcement to close their local plant in the next couple of months.

Tyson Foods will be closing its Perry Pork Plant at the end of June. The corporation officially announced it on March 11th and there was an immediate response by the city. The plant in Perry employs approximately 1,300 workers, making the announcement shocking. 

City Administrator Sven Peterson points out several areas that led up to the closure, but that it revolves around money. He specifies that Perry is a single shift plant, and after talking to the owner of the plant, there was hesitation to make the jump to a double shift. Peterson provides an example between a single and double shift at Tyson.

“Perry was doing about 9,000 hogs a day, and Storm Lake on a double shift does about 19,000 a day. A similar footprint of building, same overhead costs, they’re pumping out more than double what Perry was.”

Peterson also adds that the pork market is not in a great spot at the moment either, making operations difficult for the corporation. He remains optimistic that the city will be able to find a good partner to fill the place once Tyson officially shuts down in June.