To begin preparing to work with the Architectural & Engineering design firm in 2014, a small group of people from the University of Wisconsin-Madison traveled across the state of Wisconsin visiting several plants (Ski’s Meats, Steven’s Point; Custom Meats of Marathon, Marathon City; Country Fresh Meats, Weston; Nueske’s Meats, Wittenberg; Maplewood Meats, Green Bay; and Haen Meats, Kaukauna) to beginning thinking about the opportunities and challenges the new meat laboratory project would present while familiarizing the group with meat processing facilities.