County gives final approval for Prestage Plant

The final vote approving the development agreement between Wright County and Prestage Foods of Iowa was unanimously passed by the Wright County Board of Supervisors this morning.

The vote took place after a two-hour hearing where members of Wright and surrounding communities discussed Prestage's plan to build a large pork processing facility south of Eagle Grove. More than three-fourths of the 45 speakers gave strong endorsements for the plant, Prestage foods, and the agreement.

“Unless we show some development and grow businesses, we continue to shrink and the schools shrink," said Stan Watne, chair of the Board of Supervisors. “I heard this over and over again—this is an opportunity that if a board of supervisors has it once in a lifetime it’s an amazing thing.”

Prestage Foods now only requires clean air and well permits from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to begin construction, which Prestage COO Jere Null said they hoped to start in March 2017.