Better days and hope in Postville

Postville is working and working together again. And so far, the new company in town deserves a big share of the credit.

Wednesday was the two-year anniversary of the federal government's immigration raid on the former Agriprocessors kosher meatpacking plant. Nearly

400 illegal immigrants were arrested on May 12, 2008.

Many were deported. Families were pulled apart in this storied small town of dozens of ethnicities. The plant fell into bankruptcy, and the small town's economy tanked. Shops shuttered. School enrollment slipped. Community divisiveness grew.

Former Agriprocessors manager, Sholom Rubashkin, was convicted of fraud earlier this spring. He originally faced 163 federal charges, related to financial and immigration violations. Now he's on trial for violating state child labor laws.

Meantime, along came Agri Star Meat and Poultry and its chief executive, Canadian businessman Hershey Friedman. He bought Agriprocessors in August, promising a healthier, safer work environment with better pay - and a company that follows the law.

So far, it appears he's making good on those promises:

l Plant employment has risen to nearly 600.

l Employees are screened using a federal government program that verifies legal status.

l Employees say working conditions are better.

l The plant has a 90-day worker probation policy that includes testing for illegal drug use.

l Friedman has invested

$7.5 million in plant upgrades, with the help of $600,000 in state incentives.

l Mayor Leigh Rekow and the Postville Response Coalition, another key player in the recovery, say Friedman is committed to being a community-minded employer (An example: Agri Star pledged three months of rental assistance to 18 residents displaced by a fire last fall).

l Postville's economy is rebounding. Retail sales in the last quarter of 2009 hit a record

$31.3 million as new and former employees moved back to town.

l Public school enrollment is up this year, erasing the decline that bottomed out last year.

Sure, it's not all roses yet. There's a shortage of housing after banks foreclosed on hundreds of houses, many owned by the Rubashkin family. A recent influx of Somali refugees working at Agri Star are mostly single men, and some have families not able to join them yet. Some businesses still struggle.

But optimism is obvious in the community. Northeast Iowa cattle producers have a stable market nearby again. And Agri Star has plans to keep growing.

This company's pledge to abide by the law and be a community player is so important. Families thrive and communities prosper with stable, involved employers.

Agri Star's example to date inspires hope and the promise of better days ahead in the Postville area.

-- The Gazette Editorial Board