Branstad offers encouragement to former BPI workers

Gov. Terry Branstad told dozens of laid-off Beef Processors Inc. employees Friday he's confident they will find new opportunities in the area.

Branstad was among the state and local officials at a job training and placement seminar at Hawkeye Community College. Branstad, along with representatives from Hawkeye, Iowa Workforce Development, and Upper Iowa University, outlined assistance programs and opportunities to help the former BPI employees.

BPI announced in early May it planned to close its Waterloo facility after demand dropped for the finely textured beef product produced there, after a campaign describing the product as “pink slime” got national attention. More than 200 people were employed at the plant.

“The good news is the Cedar Valley is coming back,” Branstad said in an interview following the presentation. “There are good job opportunities here. From that perspective, I feel pretty good.”

Branstad said the skills of BPI employees dovetail with the requirements of many jobs in the area, adding the BPI workers themselves have a good reputation as reliable, hard workers.

“Those are all assets you have going forward,” Branstad told the crowd. “You demonstrated that with BPI, and that gives you a significant asset going forward.”

Branstad also announced the state has received a early intervention grant of more than $21,000 for employees to use for job search costs, including computer skills and resume writing classes or other training.

Ray Beets, associate dean of applied sciences and technology at Hawkeye, affirmed Branstad's statement about opportunities in the area for the laid-off workers.

“A lot of local industries are begging for people with CNC (computer numerically controlled) training,” he said.

Beets said he had toured the BPI facility and said the skills to run the automation there would be an asset to other employers in the area. He also extended an invitation to employees to tour the facilities at Hawkeye, which offers additional industrial training.

Chad Gorby, who worked at BPI for more than 11 years, said he is interested in CNC training, but not interested in leaving the area. Gorby said he saw numerous changes and upgrades at the BPI plant over the last decade, and agreed the industrial skills needed to work there will be assets to the former employees.

“BPI was constantly changing and finding better ways to produce a product,” he said. “When I started, I was boxing product by hand. It's all automated now.”

Former plant employee Wally Bentley agreed he is confident there are opportunities for him, but job search training and assistance will be key. “The trick is getting people to hire me,” he said.