Shuttered Tyson Foods meat plant in Iowa to reopen under new ownership

Iowa Food Group (IFG) announced this week plans to reopen a further-processing meat plant acquired from Tyson Foods after it was shuttered by the Springdale-based meat giant in 2014.

The plant is expected to offer further processing of meat such as hamburger patties, steaks and ground pork that are sold into retail and foodservice. The plant is expected to reopen in the next month. The company has not said how many jobs will return to Cherokee County, Iowa, but officials say 400 applications have been received.

County officials said roughly 450 jobs were lost when Tyson Foods closed the plant in 2014. Iowa Food Group said it expects to see some of the former Tyson Foods workers who took positions in other facilities to return. IFG officials said Tyson Foods will be part of its customer roster once operations ramp up.

New equipment is being ordered and some remodeling is under way ahead of the late January relaunch.