Progress at the pack

The new owner of the old meat packing plant in Hartley says progress is on track to reopen the facility sometime this spring.

Stephane Comtois, owner of Hartley Cold Services, said preparation work is ongoing with the hopes of opening in May. A 10,000 square foot addition was recently built to house more services, and Comtois has been excited to watch progress unfold this winter.

"We called the place Hartley Cold Services for a good reason – we're going to be offering service to the local processors," he said.

In addition to cold storage, the facility plans to offer a variety of services to regional meat packers. The business will specialize in making overrun from larger packing plants consumer-ready and also offer defrosting services. Additionally, the plant will house an industrial fryer, which Comtois said could cook anything from pork rinds to bacon to chicken wings.

The plant will also offer vacuum packaging for meat products and house an industrial bagging machine.

"That can be used for snacks like chips and anything you see at the grocery store or gas station," Comtois said. "We'll be able to pack a lot of snack product."

The plant recently received a temporary operational number from the USDA, which will allow food-related operations to begin. Comtois said the facility will be completely USDA-certified.

Workforce is Comtois' biggest immediate concern. Twenty-two employees need to be hired by May if the facility wants to start offering processing and packaging services.

Housing for workers and their families is also a focal point for Comtois. He's been working with Marjean Westerman of Treimer Realty to find rental solutions and real estate availability.

Comtois himself recently purchased two residential properties in Hartley. He was looking forward to getting the plant off the ground and eager to help the City With a Heart grow.

"Everybody is helping us with the plant, and we're excited for the opportunity," he said.