New Owners of Former Simply Essentials Plant Look to be Good Corporate Citizens

Representatives of the new ownership group taking over the former Simply Essentials chicken processing plant in Charles City were in town this week to take a closer look at the facility that’s been closed since August 2019.

The sale of the plant finally became official on December 17th and Pure Prairie Farms (PPF) Vice-President of Strategic Initiatives Anita Janssen says the company hopes to re-open the plant by mid-to-late spring. She adds that when they do open, they want to be good corporate citizens.

While Janssen says PPF looks to be represented on leadership groups and committees in the community, they also want as little intrusion as possible to the community in terms of sights and smells.

Janssen says PPF leaders are excited to be involved in the plant and community and hopes it will be a source of pride in Charles City and Floyd County.

When Simply Essentials closed the plant, some 500 people were out of work. Janssen says it will take some time to build up the number of workers, but they’ll start with about 50 when they first re-open.