A brand new meat packing facility is now under development within the Perry community.

On Tuesday, a groundbreaking event was held to officially introduce JBS USA Prepared Foods as they open a new plant in central Iowa. Head of Corporate Communications Nikki Richardson shared that the company was happy to invest $135 million to build a state of the art sausage production facility in Perry. Mayor Dirk Cavanaugh is optimistic that the new facility is going to help people recover jobs following the Tyson Foods Pork Plant shutting down in June of 2024.

“JBS’ investment will bring a lot of opportunity to town, it will bring good jobs back to Perry so our residents don’t have to commute to work. It will attract new business and residents to our community (and) it will help us recover from last year’s setbacks.”

JBS USA Chief Executive Officer Wesley Bastista explained that the company already has an existing plant in Ottumwa, and will be another location in Ankeny. He said Perry’s facility will start with 250 available jobs, then ramp up to 500 in the coming years. Batista concluded that JBS USA is hoping to open the plant in late 2026.