Meat + Poultry - March 2006 - 29

Squeezed

in most other states. Because the company is located in southern Illinois,
not far from Missouri, Kentucky and
Indiana, the plant is now under federal
inspection so its products can be sold

we feel confident that as our income increases we'll be able to deal with those
costs. But it is a concern, because as
our business grows, so do the costs, especially insurance."

"During the past year our diesel
costs rose by more than 43 percent."
in other states. In addition to being
federally inspected, the owners have to
deal with other concerns. "We've heard
stories about very small plants moving
into wholesale and not getting paid,
but we're confident we'll do fine," Jean
Shupp says. "The increasing costs of
insurance is a major concern for us, but

Dealing with annual employee reviews
is another business issue companies must
deal with but don't like to discuss much.
For the Shupps, it's not much of a concern because of their few employees, basically themselves and a couple of parttimers. For other small and medium-size
companies, where non-family members

work, it can be more of a concern.
"We try to be very positive with everyone," notes Hall. "We have a lot of
good people, and not much turnover,
which is unusual for this industry.
Evaluation is something that I don't
think a lot of employers enjoy doing,
but it's part of running a company. In
a small business, we try to take a little
less corporate view of it than maybe
some other people do."
Bernard Shire is a food safety consultant
and a writer for Shire & Associates in
Lancaster, Pa., and previously served
as director of legislative and regulatory
affairs for the American Association of
Meat Processors.
We would like to hear from you- your comments
and questions about this article are welcome.
E-mail the author at: meat&poultry@sosland.com

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_ ___. __ _.I_

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For more information, see Page 89
30

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March 2006

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Meat + Poultry - March 2006

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