Tyson Foods Inc. officially announced the impending closure of its Tyson Fresh Meats plant in Perry Monday.
In a letter dated March 11 and addressed to “team members,” Wade Brueggeman, vice president of pork production operations for Tyson Foods, said the June 28 closure will be “permanent in nature,” a phrase he used twice in the letter.
Brueggeman also announced the closure in person at an employee meeting Monday afternoon at the plant, noting that the decision to close “has nothing to do with the people who work here” in Perry.
Production is ending at the Perry plant, Brueggeman said, “because of its current scale and inability to economically improve production.” A report in “National Hog Farmer” said the Tyson plants in Storm Lake and Waterloo will likely absorb the Perry production.
A stunned silence prevailed Monday afternoon in the Perry City Hall and Perry Community School District headquarters in the wake of the surprise announcement.
The Iowa Pork Co. opened in Perry in 1962 and was promptly bought out by Iowa Beef Processors Inc. (IBP) and then Oscar Mayer in 1965. IBP reacquired the factory in 1988 and merged with Tyson Foods Inc. in 2001. The factory is Perry’s largest employer with about 1,200 workers.
