Sold-Out Eastern Iowa Meat Locker Planning Huge Expansion

After more than a half-century in business and more than two decades in their current location, an eastern Iowa meat locker simply doesn't have the capacity to keep up with demand. Thanks to assistance from the state of Iowa, they're planning a new building and more workers to help keep up with the demand.

The Edgewood Locker in Edgewood, Iowa has been a staple in the community that includes areas of both Clayton and Delaware counties for a very long time. The Edgewood Locker website traces the business's roots back to at least 1966. The current facility was built in 1997, but thanks in part to the pandemic, demand has reached unprecedented levels. A grant from the Iowa Economic Development Authority is going to allow them to embark on a much-needed expansion into a brand new, 19,000 square foot building.

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Edgewood Locker co-owner Luke Kerns told KCRG,

Right now we are booked, sold out, not only for 2021 on our beef processing but also all the way through 2022. So we are two years sold out on our beef processing. When this plant was built in 1997 we were doing a fraction of what we are doing today.

The Edgewood Locker plans to open the new building sometime in 2022. When complete, KCRG reports that Kerns says employment at the Edgewood Locker will increase from 55 workers to 70 full-time positions. In 2019, City-Data showed Edgewood had a population of 861.