Sean O’Brien and Thad Jones, suited up for our tour of the Virginia Poultry Growers Cooperative’s Hinton, VA plant, as a part of last week’s Sorensen Session.
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Open source, procurement, and gov tech.
Sean O’Brien and Thad Jones, suited up for our tour of the Virginia Poultry Growers Cooperative’s Hinton, VA plant, as a part of last week’s Sorensen Session.
Comments are closed.
Was that a processing plant? I followed an open truck full of turkeys one time to a plant near Harrisonburg. Oh was that an awful sight. First the open trucks, exposing the poor creatures to speeds exceeding 70 miles per hour, feathers flying in the truck’s wake, clearly absolutely terrified by the ride in the open air. Then I get to the plant to see tens of trucks, lined up with their turkeys, awaiting their turn to go into the processing plant. It was a horrible sight. Well, no more of those for me. How healthy can it be to eat the flesh of an animal who spent the last hours of his life in sheer terror? Since then, I only eat animal flesh that I get from folks I know have treated their animals humanely, right up to the last minute of their lives. The next step in this process will be to keep them and slaughter them myself, thus ensuring humane treatment. Not there yet, but hopefully soon… Hmmm… I guess I am ranting… oh well, pet peeve of mine.
Was that a processing plant?
Yup. Pilgrim’s Pride tried to shut down the plant a year ago, so all of the producers in the area banded together, raised something like $20M, and bought the plant. Within six months, they were back on-line and in business, now owning the business themselves. It’s quite impressive.
Lowell Fulk and Tim Kaine were both instrumental in supporting the efforts of the co-op and securing funds for the purchase of the plant. Rep. Bob “Me Too” Goodlatte later procured some federal funds.
Adam — Please verify statement.
Because I’m drafting a column on the buyout and there’s not a single state cent involved in the “securing funds” — In fact, the money involve is ALL federal dollars and secured by Congressman Goodlatte.
Lowell Fulk did work hard at addressing the issue and alerting elected representatives of the challenge. Lt. Gov. Kaine by his own admission and subsequent press release “held a meeting with Mark Warner and called him on the phone.” In the end, Warner had enough money to over-budget his staff (1.5m) but absolutely no dollars to assist the poultry co-op.
If I’m wrong, show me the state money trail? I’ll print that in the upcoming column.
~ the blue dog
email: valleybluedog@aol.com
In the end, Warner had enough money to over-budget his staff (1.5m) but absolutely no dollars to assist the poultry co-op.
Well, budgets don’t legally work like that — money can’t move between those particular pockets. But you probably know that.
If you haven’t already, have Sonny Meyerhoeffer give you his presentation on the genesis of the VPGC. He gives the bulk of the credit to Allen, Goodlatte, and Byrd, IIRC.
Waldo: Goodlatte’s staff sent the Meyerhoeffer quotes along with a timeline of events. There’s no mention of Kaine or Fulk.
The extra money transfered by Warner to his staff was not kosher either.
Blue Dog,
Daily News-Record, March 24, 2005
Well done, Adam — that’s very impressive for Kaine to have done. Looks like he was first on the scene — his injection of capital made it possible to go to Goodlatte and Allen for the big bucks.
Blue Dog has me on the point of order that the money in question ($500,000) orginally came from the USDA. It was, however, at the time of its being awarded to the Co-op, under the control of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
Here is a timeline for anyone who’s interested.
April 27, 2004: plant closes, Goodlatte says nothing can probably be done
May 1, 2004: co-op idea floated
May 29, 2004: co-op launched
June 7, 2004: co-op says state, federal help needed
June 11-12, 2004: Kaine gets involved
Daily News-Record
Daily News-Record
July 15, 2004: co-op buys plant (Augusta Free Press, Daily News-Record)
July 23, 2004: Goodlatte gets tax-exempt status for co-op
September 10, 2004: Kaine criticizes Pilgrim’s for changing numbers in deal
September 16, 2004: co-op buys plant
October 14, 2004: Warner announces $500,000 from VDACS, mentions Goodlatte
October 22, 2004: Goodlatte presents check from USDA for $8 million
November 30, 2004: co-op re-opens plant
So Kaine was there first, Kaine helped the co-op out, then Goodlatte stepped in with funds. I realize that post hoc ergo propter hoc is still one of the most basic logical fallacies, but I do think the timeline is interesting.
The real credit goes to Sonny Meyerhoeffer and the members of the co-op. Their willingness to go out on the limb is the most impressive thing I think I’ve ever seen.