(Radio Iowa) – State and local officials joined executives from one of the world’s largest meat processing companies at the groundbreaking for a new sausage plant in Perry. J-B-S expects the plant will start production by the end of next year and eventually employ 500. Iowa Economic Development Authority Director Debi Durham notes Perry has been through a rollercoaster after a tragic school shooting in early 2024 and the closure of the Tyson pork plant in mid-2024.

“This community embodies the idea that you are more than your circumstances,” Durham said. “With every unforeseen challenge, unthinkable tragedy or business setback, you show us what you are made of – hard work, heart and optimism.” Nearly 13-hundred people were laid off when Tyson closed its Perry plant on June 28th of last year. Perry Mayor Dirk Cavanaugh says the new plant will help his community recover from last year’s set backs.

Groundbreaking for new sausage plant in Perry on Oct. 14, 2025. (Photo courtesy of JBS USA)

“It will bring good jobs back to Perry so our residents don’t have to commute to work. It will attract new businesses and residents to our community. It will also give a boost to our existing businesses.” J-B-S operates plants in Council Bluffs, Marshalltown and Ottumwa and the new plant in Perry will be the company’s first sausage production site in the United States.

J-B-S recently purchased a shuttered Hy-Vee facility in Ankeny, where it plans to produce ready-to-eat bacon and sausage — and some of the raw ingredients for that sausage will come from the Perry plant.