Pork plant sparks debate in Mason City

     Area residents packed City Hall in Mason City April 5 to offer support and opposition prior to the council’s vote on a development agreement with Prestage Foods to build a new pork processing plant south of town.
     The has project has become the talk of the area since its announcement last month. The council meeting began with Chad Schreck, president and CEO of the North Iowa Corridor Economic Development Corporation, who has been working with Prestage Farms to get the project going.
     Schreck answered questions about the project and its potential economic impact on the area, noting that along with the 992 jobs the plant will need, the new business will encourage growth in related areas such as trucking and cold storage.
     “There’s a lot of ancillary businesses that will follow right along,” said Schreck.
     Read the full article in the April 13 edition of the Hampton Chronicle.