NORFOLK, Neb. — Nebraska's governor is pushing Tyson to make decisions about the future of its facility as the corporation shuts down its operations.

Gov. Jim Pillen told NCN in a sit-down interview that he has a meeting with Tyson executives on Wednesday to continue discussions about its beef plant in Lexington, which shut down this week.

Pillen said he's not yelling or screaming at Tyson because that's bad business, but he still wants to apply pressure to find out what's next for the facility. He says Tyson is assessing the plant to see if it could use it for a different purpose, like as a case-ready meat processor.

“The minute you know, we have to know, and it can’t take years,” Pillen said.

Pillen says he's optimistic that industry will return to the facility in one way or another.

“The community of Lexington, the state of Nebraska have done great things for Tyson for 35 years,” Pillen said. “The least you can do is let us get it purchased, let us get the lights, let us create value for that part of the state.”

He describes his discussions with Tyson as threading a needle, as the corporation employs more than 7,000 people at other Nebraska plants.

We will have more from our extended interview with Gov. Pillen in the coming days.