Martin's Abattoir and Wholesale Meats Inc., a Fayatteville, N.C., beef processing plant that employed 180 people, has closed. A lack of affordable supplies of cattle forced the closure, reports the Fayetteville Observer.
The company will pay the laid-off employees and maintain their insurance coverage for 60 days, said Jeffrey Martin, director of operations. The insurance might be extended through the end of the year, he said. Martin’s father, Carlton Martin, opened the plant in 1958 and built it into one of the top 20 cattle processors in the U.S. At one time, the company ranked among the 100 largest privately owned businesses with headquarters in North Carolina.