EAGLE MOUNTAIN CITY, Utah – More than five months after announcing plans to build a new case-ready processing plant in Eagle Mountain City, Utah, executives with Tyson Fresh Meats, along with officials from Eagle Mountain City and the state of Utah broke ground at the site of the new plant.

Tyson Fresh Meats, the beef and pork unit of Tyson Foods, estimated the project cost at $300 million and expects the plant to open in 2021.

“We are excited to join the Eagle Mountain City community, and in addition to bringing jobs to the area we look forward to being both a supportive community and business partner,” said Steve Stouffer, president of Tyson Fresh Meats. “Our purpose, raising the world’s expectations for how much good food can do, motivates us to be engaged and positively contribute in our communities. We’re ready to get involved and be a part of what makes Eagle Mountain City a great place to live.”

Tyson Fresh Meats operates case-ready plants in Iowa, Tennessee and Texas. The Utah plant will be a meat-cutting and packaging operation that converts fresh beef and pork — sourced from other locations — into steaks, chops, roasts and ground beef.

The plant is projected to create 800 jobs initially, then expand to 1,200 jobs within three years after opening. The project is expected to add an estimated $27 million in new state tax revenue over the next 10 years.

“After a great deal of planning and working in partnership with the developer, the state and local government, in particular Eagle Mountain City, it’s exciting to finally break ground on our new case ready plant,” said Nate Hodne, senior vice president, Portioned Protein Innovations. “The addition of this facility allows us to expand Tyson’s ability to meet growing demand from our customers for portioned and convenient meat products their consumers are demanding.”