A meat cooking facility in Shelby County has closed its doors. Superior Meats out of California purchased Jim’s Meat Market in February 2008. Since that time, the plant went from a raw plant to a cooking plant. Owner and operator Hank Mayhue said it was because of the price of raw buffalo going from $1.70 per pound of a-trim to $5.73 per pound. The company renovated the building, purchased equipment and turned it into a cooking plant, distributing hamburgers and meatballs. The product was sold to schools, prisons and retailers. The company was shut down for months and cost millions of dollars to get the company up and running. 

Mayhue said it was their own inability to get the machine working properly that led to the company closing its doors along with the cost of testing the meat extensively. The company at their peak had close to 30 employees. They have paid their vacations and treated their employees’ right. Mayhue says he hopes someday the plant will be successful. Mayhue says they can’t say enough good things about the people of Harlan. He says they are so sad that the money is gone and lost, and they wanted to see people be successful. 

The plant was shut down last Friday, May 11^th. Kohler Company in Lincoln, NE will host an auction for everything in the plant and the 5 acres sometime in the middle of July this year. Superior Meats is hoping someone in the meat industry will purchase the building because it is ready for production right away.

(Joel McCall/KNOD – Harlan)