010419 Excel Delays New Iowa Plant

Mason City, IA - Excel Corp. has set aside plans for a new $100 million meat packing plant in Iowa -- for now.

Excel, a subsidiary of Cargill Inc., is the second-largest beef packer in the United States.

Current conditions in the cattle industry would mean higher startup costs, spokesman Mark Klein said.

``We believe deferring it temporarily will help the project be successful long-term ...'' he said.

The plant is projected to employ 1,000 people.

Excel is partnering with the Iowa Cattlemen's Association on the project. Word of the delay came Tuesday in a news release from Joel Brinkmeyer, ICA's executive vice president.

``The simple fact is that the current conditions in the beef industry and projected difficulties in the processor sector over the foreseeable future have caused Excel management to ask that our project be temporarily deferred,'' he said.

Klein said analysis of the cattle market and the beef industry indicates a coming slowdown in the next couple of years.

However, Klein said, Excel still has plans to expand its premium beef offerings in the future.

Working with the Iowa Department of Economic Development, Excel and the Cattlemen's Association had shopped around central Iowa for a location for the plant, but were rebuffed by Cambridge, Des Moines and Iowa Falls.

The Mason City Economic Development Corp. formed a committee in January to look at the possibility of luring the plant -- and its 1,000 jobs -- to Cerro Gordo County.

Dan Culhane, executive director of the EDC, said the committee will reconvene at an appropriate time.

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