Tyson Foods will spend $300 million to build a new poultry plant in Humboldt, Tennessee, creating 1,500 jobs.
The complex will begin operations in 2019 and will help the company meet strong demand for its chicken.
This is the second major economic development project Tyson Foods has initiated in Tennessee this year. In August, the company announced an $84 million expansion of its Union City operations, which is expected to create about 300 jobs, which is in addition to the more than 1,000 jobs currently at the facility.
Including Union City, the company currently operates four facilities in the state, employing about 5,000. The company estimates its total statewide annual impact for fiscal 2016, including payroll, grain purchases, utilities, property taxes and charitable contributions to be more than $313 million.
The new plant will produce pre-packaged trays of fresh chicken for retail grocery stores across the US and is expected to process 1.25 million birds per week.
The chicken complex is comprised of a processing plant, hatchery, a feed mill and related operations. Tyson Foods will build these in and around Humboldt. The plant will be located within the Gibson County Industrial Park and the company will contract with area farmers to raise chickens.
Tyson Foods president of poultry Doug Ramsey said: “Our company has been successfully producing chicken in Tennessee for more than 45 years, so we’re pleased to expand our presence in the state with this major investment.
“We’re grateful for the invitation to become part of Humboldt and Gibson County. The location is attractive to us because of the strong support we’ve received from state and local leaders, the existing industrial park and availability of labour, as well as access to feed grains produced in the region.”
Tyson Foods CEO Tom Hayes added: “This project will enable us to provide even more fresh chicken to consumers across the country. As one of the world’s leading protein companies, we continue to raise the world’s expectations of how much good food can do.”
Tyson recently posted strong figures in its fourth-quarter results: revenue rose to $10.15 billion, with its beef and chicken segments experiencing a 3.3% and 4.1% increase in sales respectively.
Last week, the company completed the acquisition of Philadelphia-based Original Philly Holdings as it aims to expand in the foodservice sector.
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