For WG Provisions, an Ames-based specialty meat processor, 2020 has been a lot like a white-knuckle roller coaster ride.

This spring, the company was forced to temporarily shut down its meat processing plants in Sidney and Jewell when the COVID-19 crisis collapsed the demand from food service customers. But through innovation and persistence, the company has restarted operations and is back doing what it does best: providing a critical market outlet for Iowa livestock farmers and tasty, locally sourced smoked meats and other products for consumers. 

WG Provisions, which employs 55 people, is also playing a key part in state and national efforts to provide high-quality meat protein to food insecure families during the pandemic. And the company, through its new e-commerce site, is offering consumers an opportunity...