ABERDEEN, S.D. — The Northern Beef Packers plant in the northern South Dakota city of Aberdeen is delaying worker paychecks because of financial woes.
Employees were told Wednesday that their Friday paychecks would not be distributed. Officials hope to issue them early next week, the American News reported (http://bit.ly/12PDyYd ).
Northern Beef issued a statement reading: "Due to ongoing delays with securing additional funding, Northern Beef Packers has notified its employees that payroll will be delayed this week. The company is making every effort to rectify the situation as quickly as possible."
The slaughter plant laid off 108 of its 420 workers in April because of a lack of working capital. Officials said they hoped to hire back the workers by late July. The plant is not releasing how many workers are currently employed or how many cattle are being slaughtered, citing "competitive reasons."
The plant started up last fall after years of delays ranging from financial problems to lawsuits to flooding. It hopes to eventually process 1,500 cattle a day from the Dakotas, Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota, but it has put the ramp-up plans on hold while it tries to raise another $20 million to go with the $150 million that enabled the plant to finally start operating.
