SAME FACILITY. NEW NAME. BIG PLANS. Nexus Beef Packing Plant at the center of it all by CCA Associate Director of Communications Maureen LaGrande Earlier this year the Nexus Beef Packing Plant officially opened its doors for business. Located in Yreka, Calif., the reopening of the former Belcampo Beef Packing Plant has brought excitement to producers within the northern part of the state. Keith Nantz, the managing partner of the plant has been working day and night to get all operations running in tip top shape. In September, Nantz sat down with CCA staff who visited the processing plant to share all this feature covers about Nexus Beef Packing Plant and Nantz’s vision for it. _________________________ Before becoming part of the processing sector of the industry, Keith Nantz, owner of Nexus Beef Packing Plant, ran a small cow calf operation in Oregon. Today, in addition to running the Nexus Beef Processing Plant, Nantz runs cattle under a separate entity called Nexus Beef. Running his own livestock is what led Nantz to pursue the processing side of the beef business a few years ago. During the onset of the COVID pandemic, Nantz found it challenging as a producer to access an open facility to process and pack his livestock. The struggle at this time led him and his business partner, Miles Curtis to find a small USDA plant that had closed in Odessa, Wash. He and Curtis purchased it in May 2020. From running cattle, to running a plant After purchasing the plant in Odessa, “I let go of everything I had in Oregon,” shared Nantz. He sold his livestock, dropped everything he was doing and moved to Washington. “The morning I was moving, I was taking my final test for HACCP training, finished, hopped in my
22 California Cattleman November 2022
truck and away I went.” The plant had no employees or equipment. Here he was able to learn about starting a plant from the ground up. Meeting standards, building additions and searching for equipment for the facility all helped to prepare him for this next step up the ladder in the realm of processing. In addition to building the plant with the right equipment, Nantz worked diligently to build a working team to properly run the facility. “Something I am very passionate about is people,” shared Nantz. His mindset and drive helped to form a strong, group dynamic. Open communication, work ethic and company incentives at the plant in Washington allowed Nantz to have full trust in the team running the day-to-day operations without him always being present. The plant in Odessa is called Limitbid Packing in reference to the commodity trading term limitbid. Choosing the name Nexus was also done with intention, as the word nexus is the connection or linking of two or more objects. Assembling the Yreka Plant With the operations at the Washington facility under Nantz’s belt, the purchase of the plant in Yreka came about in the phrase of, “right time and right place.” The sale of the plant became final in May of this year. Once the plant was purchased, Nantz made the decision to move from Washington to one of the recently purchased Nexus properties in Weed to be closer to the operation and build the Nexus Beef Packing Plant team. Nantz who is strongly passionate about leadership, shared how important it is to him to create a good culture within Nexus as well