Sanderson Farms is progressing with the construction of its new poultry plant in St. Pauls, North Carolina, anticipating that the plant should open in January 2017.
The company is expected to employ about 1,100 people at the plant, has already hired about 40 employees who are currently going through training procedures, reported the Fayetteville Observer.
Sanderson Farms spokesperson Pic Billingsley said the company has experienced a few weather-related issues that have delayed the construction process, but not any severe enough to postpone its anticipated completion date.
The company in March 2015 announced that it planned to build the plant in St. Pauls, which will have the capacity to process 1.25 million birds per week for the big bird deboning market. The company at the time stated it would require about 100 contract growers to support the plant. Billingsley told the Observer that the company is still working out those contracts.
In addition to building a new plant in St. Pauls, Sanderson Farms is also constructing a feed mill near Lumberton, North Carolina. About 75 people are expected to be employed at the hatchery.
In 2014, Sanderson Farms processed 58.8 million pounds of ready-to-cook chicken on a weekly basis, according to the WATTAgNet Top Poultry Companies Database.
