Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction

                                               NEWS RELEASE                                                  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                    September 25, 2003

  DRC Breaks Ground on Prison System’s Meat Processing Plant

(COLUMBUS)---       Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (DRC) Director Reginald A. Wilkinson was joined by Ohio Department of Agriculture Director Fred Dailey and other officials for a groundbreaking ceremony at the Pickaway Correctional Institution (PCI) today. The ceremony was held to commemorate the official start of construction on DRC’s meat processing plant to be operated by Ohio Penal Industries.

“DRC prison farms have a long history of producing a significant portion of the food consumed by the inmate population”, Wilkinson said. “In addition to increasing the production capabilities of the prison farms, the processing plant will provide valuable job training for inmate workers that will allow them to find meaningful employment when they return to the community.”

The centrally-located plant will enhance the Department’s self-sufficiency capabilities by enabling slaughter, processing and packing operations adequate to supply all 33 DRC institutions a sufficient supply of meat products, while eventually saving more than $2 million annually compared to the cost of purchasing the meat from outside vendors.

For more information please contact the DRC Office of Public Information at (614) 752-1150.