Brothers Dean and Jared Lerwick, co-owners of the Pumpkin Creek Ranch southwest of Morrill, aim to bring a meat processing and packaging facility back to Gering.
Gering was a natural fit for the Lerwick brothers’ operation, which will be dubbed the Pumpkin Creek Meat Company.
“Our family lives in that area, our ranch is in that area. Just talking with the other producers there, in terms of finishing operations and feed lots, it’s one of the largest areas in terms of animals in the nation,” Jared Lerwick, who will be the meat company’s director of sales, said.
The facility will be located at 2605 Seventh St. Lerwick said he wanted to have a facility “that’s going to surprise people with how it looks,” adding that it could uplift a blighted area. “Because it’s not a big plant, it’s not going to be an eyesore,” he said.
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The meat packing operation would be smaller than previous ones which used the same location. Depending on staffing, it could slaughter process between 400 and 800 animals per month. Lerwick estimated the Packerland facility at the same spot would process 400 in a day.
The company will be staffed by around 10 to 15 employees to start, increasing up to 20 employees by the first year. Lerwick said he and his brother plan to hire local workers to help bolster the local economy.
“There’s a lot of money in the Panhandle at least that goes into Wyoming and Colorado in terms of processing there,” Lerwick said.
The cattle raised in the region are often taken out of state in order to be processed. Much of the meat is then sold back in the Panhandle.
“The supply chain is miles long when the animal is right next to your house,” Lerwick said.
He said people would like to own small ranches in the area, but for nearly two decades there hasn’t been any places for them to process their animals close by.
Lerwick said only a small portion of the cattle processed at the facility will be from the brothers’ ranch. Their meat company could help small ranchers market their own brands.
All meat at the new facility will be USDA-inspected. Producers will be able to pay for custom cuts and ranchers will have ownership of the animal all the way until they sell the meat. Lerwick said other producers sell shares of animals which customers can pick up, but these can’t be sold for retail.
“The issue has been processing,” he said. “We’ve been on a wait list for two years ... there’s been such a bottleneck. We’re passionate about shortening supply lines.”
The Pumpkin Creek Meat Company received unanimous approval from the City of Gering Planning Commission during its June 7 meeting. Lerwick said they received support from citizens at the meeting as well.
The final hurdle to cross will be the approval of the Gering City Council during their next meeting on Monday.
If the council gives the facility its blessing, Lerwick said it could be up and running by this fall.
“We’ve been working with a contractor, planning this for three years. We’ve got everything ready to go,” he said. “... I think this is something everybody can get behind.”