Down East slaughterhouse to create jobs
Washington County is getting its first state-certified slaughterhouse, a facility expected to create jobs and help area farmers.
Clayton and Catherine Blake, the owners of Blake's Slaughterhouse and Custom Meats in Alexander, recently obtained a $123,000 grant from the Finance Authority of Maine to fund a major expansion that will enable it to earn state certification, according to the Bangor Daily News. The Blakes will double the size of the facility to more than 2,000 square feet and add a smokehouse and other features, work due to be completed in September. They will also add seven new employees. The facility previously was only allowed to slaughter animals for private consumption and not for public sale. Farmers in Washington and southern Aroostook counties who wanted animals slaughtered were forced to travel hours to state- or federal-certified facilities, which limited the amount of local meat they raised, according to the Blakes. The state currently has four certified meat inspectors.
Farmers in the area are expected to expand the number of animals they raise for meat because of the new facility, helping to meet a heavy demand for locally raised products, according to the paper.
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