Roswell meat packer opens

Facility was once proposed to be a horse-slaughtering plant

A Roswell company has opened what is believed to be the state’s only meat-packing plant intended to serve the state’s ranching and dairy industries.

The plant, owned by USA Beef, is in a Roswell facility that was once proposed as a controversial horse-slaughtering plant that never opened. The facility has been “completely upgraded” to process beef and plans to employ 57 people, said John Mulcahy, president of the Roswell-Chaves County Economic Development Corp., adding that he believes the facility is the only meat-packing plant now operating in the state.

The 57 people are to be hired over the next two years, according to a spokesman for the state’s Economic Development Department.

“A critical element of the total dairy and ranching business is to process beef,” Mulcahy said.

The operation had a “soft opening” about a week ago, although it was officially announced by Gov. Susana Martinez on Wednesday.

USA Beef will get $400,000 in Local Economic Development Act funds, the governor’s office said. LEDA, which can be used for capital and other costs, is considered New Mexico’s closing fund to recruit new businesses and support existing ones.

The company, based in Roswell, will invest more than $5.4 million in renovation costs, the news release said.

Joe Madrid, CEO of USA Beef, did not respond to a request for comment.

Mulcahy said the jobs would offer “better than average” pay. Average pay in Roswell, he said, is $13 an hour.

The building formerly housed Pecos Valley Meats and was the proposed site of a horse-slaughtering plant, which prompted controversy nationwide. The proposal ended up in court and was laid to rest when a District Court judge in early 2016 issued a final order blocking the plant.

“It’s the same plant, but it’s really important to know that no horses were slaughtered there,” Mulcahy said. “That was just a bad idea.”