New Angus CEO optimistic about Aberdeen plant's future

Perhaps the man who will be most instrumental in the Aberdeen beef plant’s resurrection, if and when that actually happens, wasted little time getting to the beef barn after arriving Friday at the Brown County Fair.

“This is exactly what we would be looking for,” said New Angus CEO Doug Cooper after inspecting one 1,370-pound steer in particular.

The next steer given a once-over by Cooper was judged to be adequate, but not in the same class as the first. If he had steers like the first one he examined arriving regularly at the beef plant that he plans to open, Cooper said, the operation would be in “very good shape.”

The potential of the beef plant just south of Aberdeen that has sat idle since 2012, however, is something that area residents and producers have heard plenty about in the past.

Formerly called Northern Beef Packers, the plant was sold at a bankruptcy auction in Sioux Falls in December and is now owned by White Oak Global Advisors, an investment firm based in California. New Angus is now the name of the plant and Cooper is the man — backed by White Oak’s money — essentially charged with the task of getting the plant up and running again and making it into a sustainable business.

“We’re building a five-year business plan,” Cooper said. “I can tell you this — we have a world-class facility. We have people in the building now who are checking everything out, making sure things are in place mechanically and on the electrical side and in other areas. We’re not interested in being high-profile. I don’t want to be in the Wall Street Journal — I just want to establish a sustainable business.”

A self-described 4-H kid who grew up showing cattle in Virginia, Cooper said he has an extensive background in animal science and the beef industry, including a time operating an 800-head-per-day beef plant in Uruguay. 

When asked if he believed Aberdeen’s plant would be in operation within the next year, Cooper didn’t make any promises, but was far from skeptical.

“I hope that will be the case,” Cooper said. “That’s certainly our goal. I know there are some very nice feed yards within a 50-mile radius of Aberdeen. Brown County and Aberdeen have to be a huge part of our marketing story. We’re located perfectly here to tell a meaningful, genuine story of going from the idea to the plate. The supply is here and I’m focused on establishing an export culture.”

Cooper said the goal is for the plant to eventually employ close to 600 people and handle up to 1,000 head of cattle per day. For now, Cooper said New Angus will continue to look for bugs to work out in the facility and continue with some landscaping projects on the property. 

“This is the right time and the right location,” Cooper said. “We want to do this thing right. We want to work with the breeders and feeders and make money together, then we want to repeat that over and over again. Once we’re going, there’s not a market in the global protein business that we won’t be able to ship to.” 

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