A ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday, Dec. 3 heralded the opening of the new Open Range Beef Packing plant in Gordon, Neb. The 36,000-square-foot plant employs about 100 people and hopes to process 65,000 to 70,000 cattle annually, at a projected cost of $120 million, reports the Sheridan County Journal Star.

Open Range Beef, LLC also expects to bring $4.5 million to the community through payroll, and $420,000 in utility expenses. The company projects a total positive economic impact of $22-25 million.

Open Range Beef, LLC is managed by principals Pat Shudak, Jill Noetzelman and Tim Donmoyer, and General Manager David Blake. The company bought the plant from the city in June of this year and have spent the last five months renovating and remodeling the facility.

The plant will be custom killing for Hartley Ranch, and after a ramp-up and training period, it expects to hit a target of 250-300 head per day, 1,500 head per week.

“It’s been a tremendous amount of hard work, yet a lot of fun preparing this plant for operation,” stated Shudak and Noetzelman. “We are very proud of the diligent efforts by our entire team. An unbelievable amount of work has been accomplished in just five short months. The results have been amazing.”

“The people and community of Gordon have been extremely supportive and welcoming during the process. We couldn’t have chosen a better place to start a business,” added Noetzelman.

Source: Sheridan County Journal Star