SPOTLIGHT Becca Creasy Nine Twenty Company Standards without compromise: Becca Creasy’s bold vision for Nine Twenty Company When Becca Creasy talks about the work she and her husband, Jarrod, are doing at Nine Twenty Company, she doesn’t start with cattle breeds or processing specs. She starts with vision and values. “If we can’t find a partner or supplier that meets our standards, we won’t compromise. We’ll build it or buy it.” That commitment has shaped every chapter of their story, from launching as a first-generation family farm to becoming a key regional player in sustainable meat processing. For Becca, the end goal is creating a more transparent, humane, and resilient food system, one customer at a time. From first-generation farmers to industry problem-solvers Becca and Jarrod grew up in agricultural communities and began Nine Twenty Company (then known for its cattle operation) with a focus on breeding and genetics. They raised their herd with a level of care and attention they couldn’t imagine doing any other way. But as they began selling meat, they realized that the local processing options didn’t meet their standards. Rather than accept “good enough,” they seized an unexpected opportunity. In 2016, the owners of a 75-year-old butcher shop, Fries Frozen Foods in Millen, Georgia, approached them about buying the business. At first, Becca and Jarrod laughed at the idea. But when they saw the facility’s potential, they realized it was the missing link in controlling quality from pasture to plate. That decision changed Nine Twenty Company’s trajectory. The acquisition allowed Nine Twenty Company to oversee every step of the process, expand into multiple species, and create value-added products that met their own rigorous standards. It also gave Nine Twenty Company the capacity to process for other producers, often smaller farms that previously struggled to access USDA-inspected facilities. Scaling with purpose Purchasing the processing plant opened the door to growth, but Becca knew expansion had to be intentional. “Diversity is integral to our success,” she says, noting that the business now handles multiple livestock species, offers private-label processing for other farms, and has developed retail, wholesale, and online channels. Investments in equipment and infrastructure have allowed Nine Twenty to triple processing capacity, diversify revenue, and serve as a critical link in Georgia’s local food system. In recent years, they’ve leveraged grants and loans to expand their plant by 12,000 square feet and add a second retail shop, while also supplying hundreds of thousands of pounds of ground beef to the state’s Local Food Purchase Assistance Program, most of it sourced from socially disadvantaged producers. Becca sees Nine Twenty Company as being integral to the regional food system. “We’re creating opportunities for other producers and making local protein more accessible to families who need it most,” she says. by Meghan Lynch Nine Twenty Company Team 72 enterprising Women
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