Lincoln – October is Manufacturing Month in Nebraska. This week, Governor Pete Ricketts and Lieutenant Governor Mike Foley visited manufacturers across the state to thank them for investing in the Good Life. 

On Wednesday, the Governor toured Wholestone Farms in Fremont and Curbtender in Gothenburg. Wholestone Farms has made major improvements at its Fremont pork processing facility since purchasing it in 2018. Currently, the plant processes three million hogs per year.  The company is constructing a state-of-the-art rendering facility and cut floor as part of its plans to double processing capacity to six million hogs each year.  When complete, the expansion will add up to 1,000 jobs at the plant.  The Governor was joined on his tour of Wholestone Farms by Nebraska Chamber of Commerce President Bryan Slone and Mike Boyle, President of Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing Corp. in Lincoln.  Boyle is a member of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors and represents the Chamber on the NE Manufacturing Alliance, a coalition of five statewide manufacturing groups.

Curbtender started manufacturing operations in Gothenburg in February 2020. The company builds rear loading and automated side loading trash collection trucks at its Nebraska facility. Last year, Curbtender entered into an agreement to manufacture battery electric and hybrid electric trucks for use in waste management.   In August, the Nebraska Diplomats recognized the City of Gothenburg as a 2022 Community of the Year for its work to attract investment from Curbtender and to support other manufacturers like Dayton Phoenix, Gothenburg Feed Products, Parker Hannifin, and Wearparts.

On Tuesday, Gov. Ricketts spoke at the ceremonial groundbreaking of Sustainable Beef, the rancher-owned meatpacking plant being built in North Platte.  He also met with leaders in Lincoln County at the site of a newly developing rail park near Hershey.  North Platte Chamber and Development Corporation is looking to recruit a partner to build a soy crush facility at the park.  Food manufacturing is the largest subsector of Nebraska’s manufacturing industry—both in terms of number of businesses and numbers of employees.

On Oct 7th, Lieutenant Governor Mike Foley gave remarks at a celebration hosted by Schneider Electric in Lincoln on National Manufacturing Day.  Schneider has invested around $70 million in automation and advanced manufacturing enhancements at the 225,000 square foot facility.  Over 400 Nebraskans work for Schneider in Lincoln producing electronic and thermal switches supplied to home improvement stores like Lowe’s and Home Depot.  Congressman Mike Flood joined the Lt. Governor in congratulating Schneider on its plant upgrades during the ceremony.

In his most recent weekly column, Gov Ricketts highlighted strategic ways the State of Nebraska is supporting manufacturing growth.  This year, Nebraska has achieved its highest manufacturing employment since 2003.   Approximately 102,500 Nebraskans work in the state’s manufacturing industry.  According to the National Association of Manufacturers, the average annual compensation for a manufacturing job in Nebraska was more than $67,000 in 2019.

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