North Platte police respond to proposed beef plant concerns
NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (KNOP) - A day after city leaders announced North Platte’s next potential employer, the North Platte Police Department is addressing concerns expressed during Thursday’s press conference.
Sustainable Beef, LLC is proposing a near $300 million meat processing plant in North Platte. The plant will create close to 900 jobs., with an average salary of around $50,000 annually. The plant anticipates to draw employees who live within a 60-mile radius.
NPPD said they have known for some time about the potential of the plant coming to the community and are fully aware that bringing any large company can increase the need for police and fire services.
“We’ve talked to Chief Tracy Wolf in Lexington, we’re not beating anybody up, but, Lexington will tell you the police department kind of just let it happen, they didn’t prep for it, they didn’t do a lot of things and it just kind of showed up one day, so we really took that to heart” said NPPD Chief of Police Daniel Hudson. “We are going to spend the next 18 months to 24 months really prepping. We are going to reach out to different communities and work through our city management to make sure that our organization is prepared and equipped.”
Hudson said they will spend time identifying what other departments and communities implemented that was helpful and what other departments say, in hindsight, they wish they would have done differently to better prepare.
NPPD also said that business growth is vital, and they are excited to welcome and work with their diverse stakeholders to ensure that the City of North Platte remains a safe place to work, live, and play.
Sustainable Beef, LLC is working through the municipal process and hopes to break ground this fall and begin plant operations in early 2023. Tax increment financing will be used for the construction of the plant.
The plant is budgeted to have a $50 million payroll and estimated annual economic impact on Lincoln County of $1 billion.
