The Superior Express -

Many Jewell County residents remember the Mankato Packing Plant which had its open house Oct. 15, 1967. Whether residents worked in the packing plant, lived in the area, or have been told about it, the packing plant deserves remembrance.

On June 13, 1966, The Mankato Commercial Development Association, Inc. signed a $694,642 contract with the Abbott Construction, Inc. of Salina to do general construction of the Mankato Packing Plant.The total project cost was $1,200,000.

A ground breaking ceremony was held at the site of the plant northeast of Mankato on June 20, 1966. The participants in the ceremony were: Milton Peterson, Jr. of Omaha, president of the Mankato Packing Co.; W.R. Waugh, president of the Mankato Commercial Development Co., Inc.; Jerry Abbott, the president of the Abbott Construction, Inc. and other dignitaries.

The project was financed by Milton Petersen, Jr., the Small Business Administration, Jewell-Mitchell Co-op Electric Co., and the Kansas Development Credit Corporation.

The board of directors for the Mankato Packing Plant which operated the Mankato Packing Co. were: Milton Petersen, Jr., of Omaha, president; Bernard “Bernie” Rothschild of Omaha, secretary; Richard W. Long, Mankato, treasurer and assistant secretary; W.R. Waugh, Mankato; Rodney McCammon, Mankato; and V.A. “Bud” Hills, Mankato. Each of the directors represented a minimum of $20,000 worth of stock and the money had been paid into the company treasury.

The site of the packing plant was comprised of a large acreage of land, the bulk of it being allotted to waste disposal lagoons and livestock pens. There was approximately 28,000 square feet of usable space in the plant building. The livestock pens were about 7,000 square feet. Constructed of concrete and steel with a brick veneer, there were several operating departments in the building. The operating departments included the dressing floor, coolers, product chill and freezer, inedible space and hide curing cellar, each of which divided the building. The rate of kill was 40 to 50 animals per hour.

Comprised of close to 4,600 square feet, offices, employee welfare rooms and related facilities were provided.

In May of 1974, the general manager of the Mankato Packing Plant, Earl Sakahill, announced that Debuque Packing Company, of Dubuque, Iowa, had purchased the Mankato facility. Dubuque had been operating the plant since September of 1972, when the facility had been leased to the company.

Mankato’s Dubuque packingplant employed around 100 people in 1974, and still had openings for skilled and semi-skilled employees.

Dubuque was a well known, reliable company with 42 years of experience and plants in Dubuque, Iowa, Chicago, San Francisco and Wichita, before the purchase of the Mankato Packing Plant.

On October 24, 1986, the Mankato packing plant closed temporarily. Michael Rubach, senior vice president at Dubuque headquarters in Omaha said 80 employees were affected, but office workers and managers remained on duty. Rubach said the plant closed because of marketing conditions, including the cost of cattle and shipping. This temporary closure ended up being permanent.