Natural Pork Production II, Harlan, Iowa, reports in an application that it will create 39 new jobs and an annual payroll of more than $1 million at its proposed concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) in the Wayne County community of Williamsburg, just south of the Randolph County border.

The jobs will pay $10 an hour plus $2 an hour in benefits. The company says it will create 20 jobs at a new swine CAFO in Clinton County and 39 jobs at a new swine CAFO in Vermillion County.

Natural Pork has received a permit from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to begin construction of seven buildings with a total of 469,449 square feet of space at Williamsburg.

The Indiana Finance Authority in April approved an inducement resolution finding that the projects constitute "industrial development projects" that may be financed by the authority through the issuance of its economic development revenue bonds.

The company wants to consolidate financing of all three projects through a single issuer such as the authority to realize cost savings and other efficiencies, according to the resolution. The total cost of the projects will be about $40 million.

"We already operate ten of these facilities of various sizes in Iowa, Minnesota, Texas, Indiana and Ohio," said Gary Weihs, managing partner of Natural Pork. Referring to the Williamsburg project, he said, "This will be our 11th unit."

Source: TheStarPress