Ms Hodgkinson said the refurbished abattoir is expected to create up to 380 full-time equivalent jobs and provide a boost in investment into the Young economy.

“The NSW Liberals & Nationals Government has worked shoulder-to-shoulder with the new owners of the abattoir, B E Campbell, to get the facility back up and running again,” Ms Hodgkinson said.

“The NSW Government has provided a range of assistance measures, including project grants, stamp duty concessions and payroll relief, to support the refurbishment and reopening of the facility.

“NSW Office of Environment and Heritage also assisted B E Campbell to cut its energy bill through the upgrade of its refrigeration system.

“The new state-of-the-art facility will focus initially on the processing of cattle and will expand into lamb processing in the future.

“The opening of the facility is a major boost for local producers, with the facility sourcing livestock from saleyards and directly off-farm.”

B E Campbell principal, Ted Campbell, said the company has worked hard with the local community and the NSW Government in getting the facility back in business.

“Today’s official opening has been years in the making and follows significant investment into new refrigeration, water treatment and fire safety infrastructure,” Mr Campbell said.

“We have a long history with buying livestock out of the Young area for our supermarket products and look forward to building on this and returning this asset back into a productive and sustainable facility for the local economy.

“Hilltop Meats is expected to significantly increase B E Campbell’s export beef capability.”