American meat processing company Tyson Foods has selected western Tennessee as the location of its new $300m chicken production complex.
Tyson Foods had originally planned to construct the project in eastern Kansas, near Tonganoxie in Leavenworth County.
However, due to opposition by residents of the city, the meat processor had cancelled its plans and had to look elsewhere.
The new chicken processing complex will now be built in the City of Humboldt in Gibson County. It is anticipated to open up more than 1,500 jobs for the locals once it begins operations in late 2019.
Gibson County Mayor Tom Witherspoon said: “There is not a doubt in my mind that Tyson Foods’ tremendous job creation and capital investment will have a long lasting, positive impact in Gibson County that will ring in a new era of economic growth bringing opportunity for all of our citizens.”
Tyson Foods believes that the new poultry project will help it cater to the strong consumer demand for its chicken.
The new poultry plant will be used for the production of pre-packaged trays of fresh chicken which will be supplied to retail grocery stores across the US. It is likely to process 1.25 million birds per week, which would grow the overall production capacity of Tyson Foods by the same amount.
Tyson Foods poultry group president 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 labor, as well as access to feed grains produced in the region.”
According to Tyson Foods, the chicken complex will have a processing plant, hatchery, a feed mill and associated operations which will all be built in and around Humboldt.
The processing plant will be built inside the Gibson County Industrial Park near Humboldt with the company to contract with area farmers to grow chickens for the complex.
