The ribbon will be cut on the new Sustainable Beef processing plant in North Platte at 2 p.m. on Monday, March 24, CEO David Briggs said.

The public is welcome to attend. RSVPs are required by emailing dmessersmith@sustbeef.com.

The $400 million plant is located at 1701 S. Newberry Road, about a mile north of Exit 179 on I-80.

The event will feature a variety of speakers, including state Sen. Mike Jacobson, U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith, U.S. Sens. Deb Fischer and Pete Ricketts and Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen.

Guided tours will follow the ceremony.

The plant has been constructed in 30 months time, a process that began with hundreds of truckloads of fill dirt hauled to the site to raise the grade of a former man-made lagoon well above the flood plain.

The plant is thought to break new ground in the cattle business. The concept took shape with a small group of cattlemen in west central Nebraska. Local investors, many of them other cattle producers, joined the effort. The owners are partnering with Walmart for distribution.

When the plant is operational, it will vertically integrate the beef supply chain, aiming to supply high-quality beef to consumers, with producers receiving a share of the processing and retail profits.  

Briggs said 45 supervisors have been hired, and the hiring for various line workers will begin in May.

“(There is) lots of interest in joining our team,” he said.

Following the plant’s opening, it intends to become fully operational in 8-10 months. The plant will have the capacity to process 1,500 head in a single daily shift and is expected to employ 800 workers.

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