Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction

                                               NEWS RELEASE                                                  

MEDIA ADVISORY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                  September 22, 2003

  DRC to Break Ground on Prison System’s Meat Processing Plant

(COLUMBUS)---       Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (DRC) Director Reginald A. Wilkinson will be joined by Ohio Department of Agriculture Director Fred Dailey to conduct a groundbreaking ceremony at the Pickaway Correctional Institution (PCI) on Thursday, September 25, 2003. The ceremony will begin at 2:00 PM.

The ceremony will commemorate the official start of construction on DRC’s meat processing plant to be operated by Ohio Penal Industries. When fully operational, the plant will provide meat for all 33 DRC institutions.

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

Directions to site from Columbus:

Take I-71 South to the Orient/Harrisburg exit (Exit 94). Turn left at light (State Route 62). Bear left at “Y” (Stahl Road). Follow Stahl Road through town of Orient. At first stop sign, turn left. Road dead-ends into State Route 762. Turn left onto SR 762 then an immediate right onto the Orient Correctional Complex. Turn left at 4-way stop and follow road past DRC Employee Recognition Park. Turn right at next 4-way stop and follow road to groundbreaking site (on right). Parking will be available across the street in the Ohio Corrections Assessment Center (OCAC) parking lot.