A Pennsylvania beef processing plant that had been set to close after nearly 150 years will instead remain open as a packaging facility — preserving hundreds of jobs outside Philadelphia.
Meatpacking giant JBS said in June that it would end beef harvesting and processing operations at its Souderton plant amid broader turmoil in the U.S. beef industry, including drought conditions, tariffs and the smallest domestic cattle herd in decades.
The decision was originally expected to shut down the facility outright, but JBS said Monday that the company discussed alternatives with state and local officials and union leaders in subsequent weeks. Following those talks, JBS officials said, the company made the decision to instead convert the Souderton plant into a “dedicated value-added operation.”
JBS said that it expects to invest over $30 million across the next decade to enable the facility — which dates back to 1877 — to prepare and package products for retailers in the Northeast.
The move would preserve about 400 jobs at the plant, the company said, but union leaders noted that many others would still be out of work when beef processing ends Friday: the closure of the plant was expected to eliminate 1,500 union-represented jobs in total, as well as hundreds more in management roles or in jobs with the plant’s nearby suppliers.
JBS USA CEO Wesley Batista Filho said that in addition to preserving some jobs, the decision would “strengthen our case-ready business” while “serving customers in a key consumer market.” Wendell Young, the president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776, added that it creates “a path for long-term success at the Souderton facility."
