Stillman Quality Meats this spring will open a 8,000-square-foot USDA meat processing facility to meet the growing demand following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Stillman Quality Meats, a woman-owned livestock farm and butchery out of Hardwick, this spring will open a 8,000-square-foot USDA meat processing facility to meet the growing demand following the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There just is no other meat processing capacity being built like this in New England. We might end up being the only facility really in New England with this capability,” Owner Kate Stillman said. “We’re really close and excited.”
Unlike a slaughter house, Stillman’s facility will focus on value-add production, taking meat from up to 300 small farms in Massachusetts to create products such as pot pies, meatballs, jerky, and meat sticks, said Stillman.
Located at 3674 Greenwich Road in Hardwick, the facility is set to open by the end of April.
Stillman’s current facility is licensed under the state as opposed to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This limits who the butchery can sell its products to.
“USDA kind of removes all the training wheels off the bike, and it opens up all the sales channels,” said Stillman.
Stillman is restricted now to a retail-only business, but becoming a USDA facility will enable the company to start wholesaling. The main differences in a state-licensed facility and one under USDA inspection all comes down to an enormous amount of additional food safety requirements, said Stillman.
The company’s new facility will have several layers of pathogen controls, including specific plumbing structures before the floor is poured, custom-made floor drains, and all custom appliances, such as smokers.
The facility will have an extra 6,000 square feet of non-processing space, including USDA offices, bathrooms, laundry, and chemical rooms.
It took nine weeks just to design the floor plans, and six to nine months in total to complete the facility’s design.
“We had to build an entire new facility, and that's really the crux of all of this. This was not easy,” said Stillman.
The inspiration for the butchery’s new facility upgrade came from the immense pressure Stillman and other meat packers were under to expand their services coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Due to this increase in demand, the federal government increased its funding to support businesses in upgrading their facilities.
The USDA’s Local Meat Capacity Grant Program awarded $55 million in grants between $200,000 to $500,000, according to the USDA. While those figures look impressive on paper, they’re not nearly enough to build a USDA facility, said Stillman.
“In the grand scheme of things, it's almost nothing for this type of facility,” said Stillman.
Stillman’s facility will cost approximately $2.95 million, according to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Economic Development. In December, the state’s Economic Assistance Coordinating Council awarded the butchery $375,000 in tax credits in exchange for the company creating 25 jobs.
Those positions will be mainly physical processing jobs in the new facility, in addition to some delivery and administrative roles, the latter of which will support food safety compliance, Stillman said.
“There's a lot of need there for folks to join our team who are going to be helping us implement those programs and working with USDA inspectors,” said Stillman.
Unexpected hiccups have arisen as facility construction nears the finish line, like a custom part not working, but Stillman says the facility is still on track for a soft launch in March and a full capacity opening in April.
Mica Kanner-Mascolo is a staff writer at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the healthcare, manufacturing, and higher education industries.
