NORTH PLATTE- Sustainable Beef LLC has signed a deal with Walmart to supply the national retailer with the majority of the beef it’ll process at its planned meatpacking plant in North Platte.

Sustainable Beef LLC CEO David Briggs said construction will begin in September, with formal groundbreaking scheduled for Oct. 4 at the former city sewer lagoon.

The plant, with 875 employees, is expected to open by late 2024.

Negotiations and plans for the plant first came about in March 2021. The city has granted Sustainable Beef $1 million in forgivable loans and $21.5 million in tax increment financing in addition to agreeing to sell the retired lagoon.

The beef-plant project also will receive $20 million toward its construction cost from the state of Nebraska’s share of federal COVID-19 aid. State senators approved that allocation in April.

Tyler Lehr, Walmart’s senior U.S. vice president of merchandising for deli services, meat and seafood, said the retailer wants to provide “high-quality, affordable beef to our customers.”

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