MOUNT PLEASANT AREA DEVELOPMENT:
Jennifer Daly Executive Vice President
Phone:319-385-3101
E-mail: jdaly@iowatelecom.net

January 19, 2004

WLF, an Iowa based farmer owned cooperative announced that it has finalized the plans for expansion of their Mount Pleasant Foods slicing facility and their alliance with Millard Refrigerated Services of Omaha, Nebraska, to build an adjacent Cold Storage Warehouse.

WLF is the parent company of West Liberty Foods, Sigourney Foods, and Mount Pleasant Foods, which specializes in the production of high volume ready to eat meat products for Food Service, Retail, and Industrial customers.

Ken Rutledge, President and CEO of the West Liberty Foods, stated, “The Mount Pleasant Foods facilities grand opening was less than one year ago (June 2003) and based on the company’s anticipated business growth it was expected to meet the needs of WLF for the next two to three years. However; we find we need to expand now to meet customer needs.”

The Mount Pleasant Foods facility is currently at 55,000 square feet with 12 slicing rooms. It will be expanded by another 25,000 square feet with the addition of 8 new slicing rooms. Originally, Mount Pleasant Foods was expected to employ some 250 employees. The expansion is expected to add an additional 150 employees.

In conjunction with the Mount Pleasant Foods expansion, Millard Refrigerated Services is constructing a Cold Storage Warehouse adjacent to the facility. According to Ed Garrett, WLF Senior Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, “Finished product will move from our plant on an enclosed conveyor belt directly to the Millard facility for storage and distribution. This arrangement is consistent with the food safety aspects and efficiency of the Mount Pleasant plant and will enhance WLF’s ability to meet the needs of our expanding further processed business.”

Millard's adjacent 60,000 square foot warehouse will have both refrigerated and frozen storage with an estimated capacity of 52 million pounds of product and employ approximately 30 employees. Lance Larsen, President of Millard Refrigerated Services affirmed Millard's commitment to this business alliance and stated that Millard welcomes and is excited about the opportunity to grow with Mount Pleasant Foods.

The ground breaking for both the Mount Pleasant Foods expansion and the Warehouse will begin immediately and is expected to be completed by mid to late summer of 2004.

The following are some of the products currently produced at Mount Pleasant Foods:
A million pounds per week of Subway’s Turkey products. Various sandwich set-ups for Wal-Mart, including meat and cheese. Sliced Turkey and Ham for Denny’s.