Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
Hartley Cold Services will open in 3 phases, with first slated for late June
Owner Stephane Comtois stands in the renovated conference room at Hartley Cold Services on Tuesday afternoon.
Racks in Hartley Cold Services' industrial freezer will be able to hold 1,900 pallets of product.
Activity is buzzing at the old packing plant in Hartley as the facility pushes towards its ribbon cutting.
Stephane Comtois, owner of Hartley Cold Services, said the business is planning to initiate Phase 1 of opening by late June. He hopes the plant will be fully operational by early fall.
"Initially I thought we'd be open right now. We just got caught up with the labor shortage," Comtois said. "We've done quite a bit in the last few months."
Comtois, who owns businesses in Canada, Chicago and Florida, bought the old Beef Specialists of Iowa plant last summer. So far, 12,300 square feet have been added to the original 30,000 square foot plant, and the interior front office space has been completely redone. Plans for exterior upgrades to the front of the building are also planned.
Comtois said that $1.5 million has been invested into the plant already. Once complete, he expected the figure to be around $3.5 million.
"Winter really slowed us down and dragged our project back by a month or a month and a half," he said.
The company plans to offer a variety of services to regional meat packers and other food producers.
Phase 1 of opening will include the industrial freezer, which will facilitate a defrosting and packing service. The new freezer will be capable of housing 1,900 pallets of product on its elevated rack system.
Phase 2 will include the industrial cooker and fryer, which are capable of handling a variety of food products. The equipment will be housed in the new addition on the east side of the building, which was trucked in from Alabama and erected this winter.
"We found this building and were able to bring it to Iowa and reassemble it here," Comtois explained.
Phase 3 will bring the plant's packaging system online.
"We will be able to package anything from potato chips to candies to other products," said Comtois.
Hiring good help has somewhat plagued the opening process, Comtois said. The company is seeking general laborers, a plumber, HVAC serviceperson and electrician, as well as office personnel.
Still, progress has pushed forward thanks to a handful of skilled tradesmen recently joining on with the project. Comtois looked forward to opening day and was eager for the plant to start operation.
"We are already USDA certified, and we just need to get everything hooked up and have the USDA walkthrough for final approval," he said.
