LINCOLN- Pelican's Meat Processing Plant, and around a dozen smaller plants, will be awarded up to $80,000 each in federal ARPA grants to help bolster the state's beef and pork processing. Sandie Lavigne, daughter of Frank Pelican, stated that the funds will help alleviate one of the biggest problems many meat processing plants are facing today: staff shortages.

The rest of the funds, says Lavigne, will be used to pay off debt the plant has accrued, and may also be used to purchase a new meat wrapping machine.

Whichever way Pelican's Meat Processing Plant decides to spend their new grant funds, it will help make life at the plant a little easier, says Lavigne.

The program was launched earlier this spring by the Nebraska Legislature and Gov. Ricketts, and utilizes around $10 million of the $1 billion granted to Nebraska by Pres. Biden. The program seeks to jump-start the economy which was heavily slowed down by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The program also seeks out smaller meat processes, aiming to award plants that have fewer than 25 employees and less than $2.5 million in sales each year.

Steve Wellman, director of the Nebraska Department of Agriculture, stated that the grants will help Nebraska strengthen the country's food supply. "These grants serve as a reminder that Nebraska is committed to the meat processing industry, and we value its importance to agriculture," said Wellman.

A second round of grants will be allocated in the first half of 2023, and will run until the funds run out.

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