Demand for Ontario hogs is bound to increase after Clemens Food
Group opens a new packing plant a.t Hatfield, Pennsylvania.
That will be particularly true when the United States finally amends
its Country of Origin Labeling regulations to bring it into compliance with the
World Trade Organization standards.
The sixth-generation family farmers plan to invest about $256
million in the plant that will employ about 810 people.
The Michigan Strategic Fund this week approved $12.5 million in
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds for the City of Coldwater for
infrastructure improvements, land acquisition, workforce development and
on-the-job training for the new development.
The Clemens Food Group plans to construct a 550,000 square-foot
fresh pork processing facility and have it running by late 2017 or early 2018.
The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD)
worked with a group of Michigan pork producers for approximately three years
considering the merits of siting a pork processing plant in Michigan. The
producers used a $100,000 MDARD grant to conduct a feasibility assessment for a
pork processing plant in the state.
Founded in 1895, the Pennsylvania-based Clemens Food Group is a
sixth-generation, family-owned integrated pork production operation including
farming, processing, transportation and logistics.
The company has a total of 2,200 employees.
