Maine’s 17,000 who observe the dietary practices in the Quran primarily rely on imported halal-certified beef, lamb, and goat meat because the closest USDA-certified slaughter and processing facility is four states away.

Katheryn Piper and her husband, Hussam AlRawi, want to change that. In 2017, they organized Five Pillars Butchery LLC and converted their barn in Unity, ME to produce halal proteins for direct local consumption under Maine certification.

Surrounded by lakes with abundant fishing and deer hunting, Fair Grove, right outside of bustling Springfield Missouri, is where Darren and Lori Fullerton operate their current meat processing facility which has been a family business since 1982. Just down the road, near Buffalo, Missouri they're expanding their small-town business; they're constructing a new facility, all geared to better serve ranchers in an area where there are more cattle than people, the highest population of cattle in Missouri.