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James Hsu is leading Taiwan-based Tai Shin Foods & Frozen Industrial Co.'s expansion into the United States via a hog-processing facility in Pleasant Hope.
James Hsu is leading Taiwan-based Tai Shin Foods & Frozen Industrial Co.'s expansion into the United States via a hog-processing facility in Pleasant Hope.

Tai Shin celebrates grand opening in Pleasant Hope

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Pleasant Hope, a town north of Springfield with a population of 548, is not the first place that comes to mind when discussing global business. But as the home of Tai Shin Foods USA, the only U.S. facility of Taiwan-based Tai Shin Foods & Frozen Industrial Co., Pleasant Hope finds itself on the cutting edge of international business and investment – and getting the company up and running in the Polk County town is an accomplishment eight years in the making.

Tai Shin, a company owned by Taiwanese businessman James Hsu and his family, in 2000 purchased a defunct 18,000-square-foot beef processing plant just outside Pleasant Hope with plans to refurbish it as a hog-processing facility.

More than $6 million in foreign direct investment later, the plant has grown to 100,000 square feet and has begun processing hogs for custom clients. With 74 employees to date and the potential to employ up to 300, the plant will ultimately process a maximum of 2,000 hogs per day, with plans to export to Taiwan, Japan and Vietnam, as well as providing custom services for domestic clients. Currently, the plant is processing about 200 hogs a day.

From a world away

Tai Shin, which planned a June 6 grand opening for its Pleasant Hope operation, is an 85-year-old company started by James Hsu’s grandfather.

Tai Shin was exporting pork to customers in Japan when, in 1999, a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in Taiwan led to a ban on pork produced in that country. As a result, James Hsu began looking for options abroad.

Enter Hank Ma, director of the Taiwan office of the Missouri Department of Agriculture’s International Marketing Program.

Ma told Hsu about opportunities in Missouri, and International Marketing Specialist Wayne Bill set up tours of three prospective properties, including Pleasant Hope. Bill declined to identify the other properties other than to say they were in northern Missouri.

Hsu chose Pleasant Hope, and shortly after purchasing the plant, moved to Missouri with his family.

The Agriculture Department’s involvement was a natural, Bill said. “They wanted to buy hogs here – helping the state, helping exports – so it was right up our line.”

Strategic partnerships

Tai Shin’s operations are the result of a unique partnership between American and Taiwanese firms. Because Tai Shin is not a U.S. employer, it partners with Springfield-based Penmac to serve as the employer of record for Tai Shin workers, said Marcia Griffin, Penmac regional manager.

Penmac staff met with Tai Shin management, including owner Hsu and Plant Supervisor Todd Mowery, as well as accountants and legal counsel to establish all the company’s policies and procedures, from pay rates to vacation days and benefit packages, Griffin said.

Tai Shin employees start at $8 to $10 an hour, plus a 50 cent per hour attendance bonus. “That is an hourly weekly bonus that we give them if they have perfect attendance, they’re not late, they don’t leave early,” Griffin said.

Employees are eligible for raises at 30, 60 and 90 days.

“We have some hourly employees that have been here since December and January who are at the $14-an-hour mark already,” she added.

Employees are eligible for full benefits, including health, life, dental, vision and holiday pay, at 90 days after hire, Griffin said, and they are eligible for 401(k) participation from Day 1.

Sheila Gibson, an Occupational Safety and Health Administration consultant with Safety Source, established OSHA safety training for the plant.

Penmac’s point person is on-site Manager Angela Myers, who handles all the day-to-day personnel issues. “She does the monitoring of attendance, employee discipline, anything that needs to happen,” Griffin said.

New hires are being added weekly and orientation sessions are ongoing. The majority of applicants, 63 percent, have come from Polk County, and another 25 percent from Dallas County, with a handful from Greene, Cedar, Dade, Webster, Christian and Hickory counties.

Boosting area agriculture

As Tai Shin’s Pleasant Hope operation gears up, it is pulling hogs from Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma, but Plant Supervisor Mowery said he just took a delivery of hogs from a local farmer and has three more local operations that will be supplying the plant with product.

The idea is to boost the local economy and “to put the local hog farmer back in business,” Griffin said.

Missouri’s hog production has suffered in the eight years since Tai Shin purchased its Pleasant Hope property.

Hsu said when he arrived, Missouri had 4 million head of hogs; now it has 2 million. Hsu said he’d like to see the Pleasant Hope plant running at capacity within two years. “Then I will have an expansion plan, and maybe we can get up to 5,000 a day,” he said.

Tai Shin has begun pursuing growth by processing hogs for custom clients. “We’ve got a project in the works where they’re going to do about 4,800 hogs a week on specialty hogs – ABF, or antibiotic-free, all natural hogs,” Mowery said. The all-natural pork products are shipped to high-end restaurants in Chicago and New York and on the West Coast.

Part of the community

The city of Pleasant Hope annexed Tai Shin May 19, making it an official part of the community. Mayor John Homer noted that the recent annexation, which added 100 acres to Pleasant Hope, provides access to city services including police protection. Homer said the plant, and the hundreds of employees it will employ, will create a long-term benefit for the community.

Beyond its investment in facilities and people, Tai Shin already has shown a dedication to its community through public service. After the ice storm of 2007, Tai Shin stepped up to serve as an emergency shelter for area residents under the direction of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Tai Shin is a member of the recently established Pleasant Hope Chamber of Commerce. “Once they get going, I see nothing but positive things for the community,” said Chamber President Anita Mullings. “It can only be good for Pleasant Hope.”

Tai Shin also is having a positive impact in the manufacturing community. “Certainly, we are pleased to see the addition of several new jobs there, especially with the Willow Brook plant closing,” said Rita Needham, executive director of the Southwest Area Manufacturers Association. She has been watching Tai Shin’s development and plans to approach them as a potential SAMA member.

Needham noted that food processing is one of the larger manufacturing sectors in southwest Missouri, and the pressures that have played into Willow Brook’s closing are ongoing.

“Just as the cost of fuel and the cost of corn affected Willow Brook, it will be affecting others in that industry,” Needham said. “Certainly it’s going to be a difficult hurdle for them to overcome and to absorb as they have those continuing increases in cost.”[[In-content Ad]]

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