Members of Iowa’s U.S. congressional delegation are urging Tyson Fresh Meats Inc. to identify a buyer for its facility in Perry quickly, according to city administrator Sven Peterson, as the processor nears the expected June 28 closing of its plant in the Dallas County community.

Peterson addressed attendees of the Greater Des Moines Partnership’s 2024 DMDC trip during a policy briefing May 10 about his discussions with five of Iowa’s six elected members of Congress and their staff in Washington, D.C., on federal programs that could ease Perry’s recovery and bolster workforce retention in the future.

Arkansas-based Tyson announced in March it would permanently close its plant in the town of 8,000 people,causing the elimination of nearly 1,300 jobs.

“As they [Iowa congressional leaders] have conversations with Tyson, as many of them are, really keeping their thumb on them to try to encourage them to sell as quickly as possible to a good buyer,” Peterson told the Partnership delegation.

In an interview with the Business Record in Washington after his formal update, Peterson said the immediate goal is to “retain as many of our residents as we can” and get the plant reopened with a new operator “as soon as we can.”

“They’re [Iowa’s federal lawmakers] all very in tune with what’s going on. And being an ag state, they understand the implications, not only on the people but the pork producers as well,” Peterson said.

Peterson said he and members of the Partnership delegation meet with Sens. Charles Grassley and Joni Ernst and U.S. Reps. Randy Feenstra, Ashley Hinson and Zach Nunn about the Tyson closure.

When asked for comment from Ernst about the meetings with Perry officials during the DMDC trip, Mechelle Philip, the senator’s press secretary, provided the following statement on Tuesday via email:

“Senator Ernst met with local leaders from Perry and Dallas County to receive an update on community efforts to maintain a strong local economy following news of the upcoming Tyson plant closure. Federal resources are available from the Economic Development Administration to help Perry. Senator Ernst understands the impact the Tyson plant closure will have on workers, their families, farmers, and the community. She appreciates the efforts of local leaders and will continue to monitor the situation.”

According to Peterson, city officials and their economic development partners are working to anticipate all the immediate effects of the plant closure and are communicating with federal agencies about programs and aid available for workforce development, housing and talent retention in Perry.

Peterson said talks are ongoing with the Economic Development Administration about infrastructure and workforce development, the Environmental Protection Agency about possible grants to help with rural sustainability initiatives and placemaking for workforce attraction, and the USDA about affordable and workforce housing.

Diversifying available jobs
While Perry works to find a replacement operator for the plant, Peterson said the city and its partners want to leverage all of Perry’s existing assets for more long-term economic development efforts.

According to Peterson, the city wants to more aggressively market a 200-acre, shovel-ready development site. He said officials are also working with adjacent landowners to add acreage to the site.

The added land could make the site eligible for the state’s new Major Economic Growth Attraction (MEGA) tax incentives program for developers signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds earlier this month.

The Iowa Economic Development Authority’s website shows that 134 acres of the Perry Industrial Park is part of the Iowa Economic Development Authority’s Certified Site Program.

Peterson said there is also a 30,000-square-foot shell building that could be utilized by a new company or by businesses.

Des Moines Area Community College announced on May 10 that it will open a workforce resource center located at the DMACC VanKirk academy in Perry in response to the Tyson closure.

DMACC VanKirk Career Academy is a collaborator in PerryNext, a group of city, county and state officials, local business and community leaders working on economic development in Perry.

In addition to the roughly 1,300 jobs lost at Tyson, Peterson said Friday, another 500 jobs were linked to the plant through ancillary services.

He said that, of the workers affected, about 60% live in Perry while 40% live in other communities.

“We’re really trying to focus on keeping those folks in Perry but finding them jobs where they can have a reasonable commute hopefully until we can find some more jobs to bring in locally,” Peterson told the delegation.

Until the plant closes, Peterson said that understanding the full effects is “a little bit of a hurry-up-and-wait” situation.