I-O Properties looking at November start-up
Riggs Florence, owner of the I-O Properties and who bought the former Dean’s Food building in Decatur’s Industrial Park to house a meat processing plant, stopped by the Daily Democrat Friday afternoon to give an update on the progress of work being done at the plant.
Time-line wise, Florence said he is anticipating a November start-up noting there has been a slight delay due to equipment needed for the plant getting here slower than expected with supply chain issues.
He said there are currently a couple of maintenance workers doing interior demolition of areas that would be in the way of the working process of a meat processing plant and added “it’s been a whirlwind of activity for us out there. There is a lot of stuff that goes on behind the scenes that’s not readily apparent to the public. Things like emails, phone calls, lots of questions. People calling wanting to know when we’re going to start hiring. We are planning on finalizing our architectural plans for the building in March and then take and award bids on a lot of things.”
Florence stressed his company will seek to have as much of the work done locally as possible. One of the main factors that made the Dean’s Food building attractive to I-O Properties was the fact it already had a topnotch refrigeration and cooling system in the building which is definitely something needed for his business.
He said he anticipates just over 100 persons will be hired before opening day and their will be a rigorous training program for employees since many of them have never worked in such a facility as his. He anticipates a six-month ramp up period of getting workers comfortable in their job before full production can be achieved noting “the first week or so we may only do two or three animals so we can really emphasize the training and adherence to the standards we are required to meet.”
I-O Properties plans on being a major player in the economic future of Decatur as Riggs said “people are always going to have to eat. We’re looking to hire the everyday people who need good paying jobs. We’re a family-owned business coming in to
Decatur and not some large corporation and I think that’s a huge plus for us.”
Florence said salaries at I-O in Decatur will average about $24 per employee with some obviously in high skill areas making more, and some a little less. There will be two shifts a day with processing of meat on first shift and the second shift being dedicated to sanitation.
He said I-O Properties recently received a semi load of Easter-related items (candy, etc.) from Peyton’s Northern Distributing Center in Bluffton which is a major supplier of items for area Kroger stores as a donation.
“We donated all of it to the Chamber of Commerce and several other agencies to be used for activities during the upcoming Easter holiday. When you have contacts with other businesses like we do, this is the type of thing we can do to benefit the community,” he lauded.