The Dubuque Packing Company was a former meat packing company that operated under a variety of names in Dubuque, Iowa from 1891 until 2001. It was recognized for the quality of its products , and in the 1950s became the second-largest employer in the city. The company was widely known in the community as "The Pack." The company used the fleur-de-lis logo as its trademark. History In June 1891 the Dubuque Packing Company was founded by the merger of the Dubuque Packing & Provision Company and the Dubuque Butchers Association. Until the early 1930s, the company acted as a local meat supplier. In 1931 H. W. Wahlert purchased the plant with the Christian Schmitt family of St. Louis. At the time of the purchase, the company employed only sixty people. The new firm was incorporated with Wahlert as president and underwent a massive renovation including extra refrigeration and the addition of rooms where unconsumable items were kept separated from the rest of the plant. Despite the Great Depression, the organization grew rapidly under Wahlert's leadership including the production of canned hams - the first food product America exported after World War II. In the 1950s the company became the second-largest employer in Dubuque. Employment reached 3,500 in the 1960s and sales supported a payroll of $20 million by the 1970s. During the organization's most successful period, the company operated 12 plants with sales near $2 billion. At its peak, it was the third largest beef processing plant in the United States. In 1948, ten employees of the Dubuque Packing Company pooled $5 each, in combination with a loan for $123.20 from the Amalgamated Meat Cutters Local Number 150, to charter Dupaco Credit Union, which eventually became Dupaco Community Credit Union. Labor union negotiations with the company made workers at the plant some of the highest-paid employees in the city. Dun's Review listed the company as the 15th largest privately held company in the United States in 1978, with sales of about $390 million. At its peak, the company's sales approached $2 billion and it had 12 plants. It was the 3rd largest beef slaughter in the U.S. The company was also recognized for the quality of the products they made. In 1960 and 1961 the company won gold medals at the California state fairs for their canned hams. They also became one of the largest suppliers of kosher meat in