Ribbon-cutting event hosted for new JBS facility
May 29—WORTHINGTON — Culminating a project that finished ahead of time and under budget, JBS Worthington hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday afternoon to mark the opening of its new freezer warehouse and distribution center.
Following a lunch that — naturally — included barbecued JBS pork products, the community's largest employer thanked its employees, the city of Worthington, its construction team and others for their efforts in making the new 186,083-square-foot facility a reality.
"This has been a long time coming, but we are finally here and very excited that this day has arrived," said JBS Worthington General Manager Brad Hellinga, who also welcomed plant visitors such as JBS Foods President Andre Nogueira, President of Pork Bob Krebs and guests from the JBS corporate office in Greeley, Colorado, as well as Worthington Mayor Mike Kuhle, the "Spirit of Worthington" Trojan Marching Band, the Tippmann Construction Group and representatives of the Worthington Area Chamber of Commerce.
"We are excited for the next step this will bring to continuing growth of our plant," Hellinga added.
Company officials say the new freezer warehouse will create approximately 70 new jobs ranging from $17.05 to $21.30 per hour, plus benefits. The facility can store up to 25 million pounds of frozen product and 2.5 million pounds of fresh product, increasing the plant's overall production capacity.
The JBS pork production plant has about 2,200 team members currently and processes approximately 20,000 hogs per day.
A groundbreaking for the new warehouse building took place in August 2020, with a target opening date of June 1. That goal was met, and Hellinga was grateful.
"Thank you to the Tippmann Group for being a great partner through the entire project," Hellinga said. "We could not have asked for a better partnership through this process. Your dedication and commitment to the project has not gone unnoticed, and it shows with how beautiful this facility truly is."
Tippman Group has built more than 17 million square feet of temperature-controlled warehousing and processing facilities during its 50 years in business. Sean Slain, a vice president with the company, also made brief remarks during Friday's event.
"Thanks to the city of Worthington and the community, this was a great experience all around," he said.
"This was an entire group effort from the JBS family, and I want to thank you all for your continued support to make the facility the best it can be," Hellinga added. "This new distribution center will create great growth for not only the Worthington plant and JBS as a whole, but it will continue to grow the city and community of Worthington. We continue to be grateful for the support of the city and community of Worthington that they have always shown for us."
Hellinga also offered a few remarks about the JBS Hometown Strong initiative, through which the company has donated $2.6 million to the city to assist with needs resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and invest in Worthington's future.
"We are in the process of helping with the construction of the new rec center for community families to enjoy, as well as working on housing projects to help support our community to grow," Hellinga said.
Mayor Kuhle also had the opportunity to speak toward the conclusion of the ribbon-cutting program, after which a tour of the facility was offered. He thanked the company for demonstrating "its commitment to Worthington" with the construction of the new facility and its investments in the city itself.
"JBS has really stepped up to the plate and has been a great corporate partner for our community," he said.
