thumbnail|right|350px|The former Dubuque Packing Company plant
The Dubuque Packing Company was a meat packing company that operated under a variety of names in Dubuque, Iowa from 1891 until 2001. In the 1950s, the company became the second-largest employer in the city. By the 1960s, the number of employees in the company's workforce rose to approximately 3,500 and the quality of their products became significantly distinguishable and recognizable by winning gold medals in the 1960 and 1961 California State Fairs. Until the early 1930s, the company acted as a local meat supplier. In 1931, H. W. Wahlert purchased the plant with the Christian Schmitt family of St. Louis. At the time of the purchase, the company employed only sixty people. The new firm was incorporated with Wahlert as president and underwent a massive renovation including extra refrigeration and the addition of rooms where unconsumable items were kept separated from the rest of the plant. Despite the Great Depression, the organization grew rapidly under Wahlert's leadership including the production of canned hams - the first food product America exported after World War II.
In the 1950s, the company became the second-largest employer in Dubuque. Employment reached 3,500 in the 1960s and sales supported a payroll of $20 million by the 1970s. During the organization's most successful period, the company operated 12 plants with sales near $2 billion. At its peak, it was the third largest beef processing plant in the United States. Its gelatin operations were sold to the French company Sanofi. BeefAmerica went out of business in 1998 following a recall and a strike.
Current status
thumb|left|300px|The former Dubuque Packing Company plant being demolished in May 2006.
The packing plant in Dubuque operated under the FDL Foods Inc. name until September 1995 when the plant again closed, this time due to the loss of the sole contract with Hormel (as reported to workers by management in July 1995). The plant was eventually sold to Farmland Foods, who continued to operate the plant until 2001. Smithfield Foods purchased the plant with the stated intention of refurbishing and reopening the plant. However once Smithfield purchased the plant they decided not to proceed with either remodeling or reopening the plant. This led to the belief that Smithfield only purchased the plant to remove competition from the market.
For the next four years, the former Dubuque Packing Company plant sat empty. From time to time Dubuque police used the plant for training purposes, but otherwise no activity took place there. Many in the community felt that the abandoned plant was an eyesore - especially given its position near the Mississippi River and U.S. Highway 61 and U.S. Highway 151. In 2003, Walmart expressed interest in the site for a second supercenter. But when the city decided against supplying tax incentives, Walmart decided not to proceed with the project.
Then, in 2004, local developer Wayne Briggs announced his plans to tear down the plant and redevelop the site as a shopping center.