National grass-fed and pasture-raised meat delivery service Wild Pastures of Erie, Colorado, plans to expand to Arkansas with a $13 million distribution center in Clinton, the Arkansas Economic Development Commission announced Wednesday.
The company is moving into a 138,000-SF facility at 245 Quality Dr. formerly occupied by Global Foods Group Inc., which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2021.
Wild Pastures’ project is expected to create 20 jobs over the next two years, AEDC said in a news release. The company is looking to meet increased customer demand and deliver products more quickly to the growing Southeast market.
Wild Pastures was founded in 2018 by husband and wife team Chas and Autumn Smith. The Smiths are also the founders of Paleovalley, a healthy food, drink and supplement company.
“We launched Wild Pastures with the mission of helping to change the meat industry for the better by delivering the highest quality, delicious and nutrient-dense meats to our customers doorsteps at the lowest prices possible,” Chas Smith said in a statement. “We are excited to be coming to Van Buren County and feel it is a fantastic area with great people for us to continue supporting this fast-growing business of ours.”
Wild Pastures is a network of “highly principled” farmers in the U.S. who raise animals outdoors on grass pastures, not feedlots, according to the Wild Pastures website. The farmers use regenerative farming practices in order to raise healthy animals in a way that is beneficial to the ecosystem and environment. That includes rotational grazing, which mimics nature and eliminates the need for synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, hormones, or antibiotics.
The company ships beef, chicken, pork and fish anywhere in the contiguous U.S.
“Wild Pastures is a leader in the health foods sector, and we are excited to welcome them to Arkansas and see them grow in the Natural State,” Clint O’Neal, executive director of AEDC, said in the release. “The City of Clinton is a great, business-friendly community, and we congratulate them on this economic development win.”
The state offered the following incentives to Wild Pastures: Advantage Arkansas, which offers a state income tax credit for job creation based on the payroll of new, full-time, permanent employees hired as a result of the project, and Tax Back, which provides sales and use tax refunds on the purchase of building materials and taxable machinery and equipment.
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