A long awaited meat processing facility near Balzac will open its doors on February 27th.

Cam Daniels, Director of Marketing for Harmony Beef, said it's been a long road to opening, but they're excited to get to work.

"We ran into a few roadblocks. First it was a water issue, then it was an electrical issue. But we've managed to go through all those hurdles, and now we are in a position today where we can harvest our first animals starting next week."

The facility has undergone significant renovations over the past three years prior to opening. The amount of water required for the facility wasn't available from Rocky View County, nor was it cost effective, leading the company to invest in European equipment to build a water treatment facility that allows the plant to process and recycle the majority of their water.

Daniels said that anyone concerned about having a smelly neighbour in Airdrie's backyard have nothing to fear.

"There's no reason for there to be any smell. We don't do any tanning of hides here, we don't do any rendering, we're not a feedlot, we're just a harvest fabrication facility, so there'll be no smell, so the community has nothing to worry about."

The new facility also creates a number of new jobs in the area.

"This plant opens with the creation of about 175 new jobs, in a province that's seeking economic diversification, and the total employment will go to about 375 jobs as our processing ramps up about 750 head per day over time."

Harmony Beef held job fairs to hire the first 175 positions, but Daniels said that they're accepting applications for future positions.

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