(Hillsboro, OR)  --  The Meating Place in Hillsboro is the first Oregon Department of Agriculture slaughter and processing plant in the state.  Oregon got permission from the USDA to run the program.  The federal government is giving The Meating Place 250-thousand dollars to purchase equipment and expand its operation.  They have three-thousand customers a week.  The new equipment will allow them to increase their services by 14 percent to 290 ranches, hire ten new employees and increase access to locally raised meat.