ESI Group partners with Cattlemen's Heritage

The ESI Group has been selected to design and construct a greenfield beef-processing facility located in southwest Iowa, company president Brad Barke has announced..

The 500,000-sq. ft. Cattlemen’s Heritage beef-harvesting plant, located in northern Mills County just south of Council Bluffs, will harvest 1,500 head per day and employ up to 750 people. Groundbreaking is scheduled for spring 2022.

“We were drawn to the ESI Group because of its status as an industry leader with more than three decades of specialized experience in the design and construction of food distribution, processing, and automated facilities,” said Chad Tentinger, lead developer for Cattlemen’s Heritage, which is headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa. “The ESI Group has the expertise and ability to ensure that our facility is up and running as planned in December 2023.”

ESI Group’s design and construction of a 901,668-square-foot distribution center on 74 acres in Phoenix, Ariz., to better serve grocery retailer WinCo’s existing 94 and future stores influenced the Cattlemen’s Heritage leadership team’s decision, Tentinger said.

Barke said the ESI Group looks forward to working with Tentinger, a fourth-generation Iowa cattle producer, and the Cattlemen’s Heritage team. “Chad and his team are committed to expanding beef processing in the Upper Midwest to ensure that cattle producers receive a fair return on their financial investment and hard work,” he said. “We’re excited to play a part in Cattlemen’s Heritage’s goal of changing the traditional methods of processing cattle through additional processing capacity and by incorporating the lessons the beef-processing industry has learned through the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Barke noted that the project will bring tremendous economic opportunities to the surrounding communities with an estimated 3,300 workers needed through construction.  He said that companies or workers with project-related questions should email [email protected] and reference the Cattlemen’s Heritage project.  

Cattlemen's Heritage Beef Co. is a newly formed corporation led by project developer Chad Tentinger, founder, and owner of Ten Corp Inc. and an Iowa cattle producer. Tentinger hopes to provide a market for cattle raised by smaller, independent cattle producers, and plans to open the plant in late 2023.

ESI is a full-service engineering and construction management firm that supports companies that safely feed the world.  With an exclusive focus on temperature-controlled environments, ESI provides design-build services for new construction, expansion, and renovation projects nationwide. SOURCE: ESI