Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Saline River Farms recently joined local leaders and partners to break ground on Saline River Farms' new $80 million state-of-the-art USDA meat processing facility. Supported by the Economic Development for a Growing Economy Tax Credit (EDGE) program and a $1.5 million grant through the Meat & Poultry Supply Chain Capital Grant Program along with a $6 million grant from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Saline River Farms' facility is forecast to process approximately 40 million pounds of beef and 19 million pounds of pork annually.

"This facility will soon become a state-of-the-art, 60,000 square-foot USDA meat processing plant — simultaneously improving our nation's food supply by producing hundreds of thousands of pounds of beef a day while creating good-paying full-time jobs," said Gov. Pritzker. "More food getting to consumers' grocery aisles and more jobs for hard-working Southern and Central Illinoisans is a win-win. This groundbreaking brings Creal Springs and its surrounding communities an opportunity to rebuild and revitalize, and I'm grateful to USDA and Williamson County for working together to make today possible."

Designed to support independently owned meat and poultry companies to bolster the supply chain, the Meat & Poultry Grant program will provide additional capital to help Saline River Farms build capacity through improvements and an expansion of an existing facility. As part of the program, Saline River Farms is investing a total of $34.5 million to repair and expand its existing 60,000 square foot facility.

"USDA Rural Development is proud to make this investment, working in tandem with our state partners, to support Saline River Farms in creating job growth, expanding regional capacity and fortifying our food supply chain," said Betsy Dirksen Londrigan, Illinois State Director of the United States Department of Agriculture.

The company's expansion has also been supported by the state's EDGE program.