Sutherland, Iowa (RI) — A meat company in our area and one nearby are among nine small-scale meat processing shops in Iowa that are splitting 355-thousand dollars in state grant money to expand their businesses.
Friedrichson Meat Company in Sutherland will get $25,000, and Cherokee Locker in Cherokee will get $75,000.
Iowa Ag Secretary Mike Naig says the “Choose Iowa Butchery Innovation Grants” have to be matched by the business, and these grants are leveraging nearly two million dollars worth of investments.
Naig says meat lockers faced challenging times, but the pandemic was a turning point.
Lucas Van Wyk — co-owner of the Ulrich Meat Market in Pella — is president of the Iowa Meat Processors Association.
The grants were announced during a news conference a couple of miles from the Iowa Capitol, at a meat locker that’s been operating since 1869. Tucker Maxwell recently bought the business, is getting one of the grants, and expects to dramatically expand the number of cattle it processes.
Lawmakers created the state grant program for butcher shops in 2021, and the first round of grants were awarded in early 2022.
Other meat companies receiving grants were
- Weaver Meats in Afton $40,000
- Maxwell Custom Beef $30,000
- Tiefenthaler Quality Meats in Holstein $45,000
- Milo Locker Meats in Milo $75,000
- Skoglund Meats in West Bend $25,000
- Winthrop Locker in Winthrop $25,000
- Yetter Locker in Yetter $25,000
