COLUMBUS — The Ohio Association of Meat Processors, the Ohio Department of Agriculture, State Representative Melanie Miller, and other officials toured Heffelfinger’s Meats Inc., based in Jeromesville, Ohio, on July 12.

In 2022, Heffelfinger’s Meats received nearly $227,000 from an Ohio Meat Processing Grant. The meat processor used the funds to purchase a generator for its 25,000-square-foot facility.

“This is such an important industry in our great state and especially here in Ashland County,” Miller said. “Rick Heffelfinger continues to operate a first-class facility and by investing in Ohio’s meat processors, we are supporting the growth of small business and ensuring our residents have access to safe, locally sourced food.”

Heffelfinger’s Meats, a third-generation operation dating back to 1934, processes beef, pork, bison, elk, Ohio goat, veal, lamb, duck and free-range turkeys.

In April 2024, a new round of funding began for the Ohio Meat Processing Grant Program, totaling $14 million to help improve and expand the state’s meat processing services. Qualified meat plants can use the funding to acquire new and upgraded machinery, other equipment and technology products, and plant construction or expansion for confinement, processing, and refrigeration.