Simmons Foods has closed its plant in Jay, Oklahoma, with December 22 as its last day of operation. The company had announced the plant’s planned closure in October, citing an inconsistent supply of hens and subsequent underutilization of the plant as its main reasons to close the plant.
The Simmons Food plant in Jay, which was once a rendering plant that served other poultry companies, recently employed more than 200 people.
Employees that had been employed at the Jay plant were offered opportunities to work at other Simmons locations in Missouri and Arkansas, according to a NewsOK report.
“This hasn’t been an easy decision, and it’s only after carefully considering all possible options for the business that we came to this decision,” Gary Murphy, president and chief operating officer of the Simmons Poultry Group stated in a press release issued in October. “We have a wonderful team of people at Jay and we’re grateful for their efforts during this time. We’d also like to thank the city and community of Jay for their support.”
According to the WATT Global Media Top Companies Database, Simmons Foods processes 190 million chickens annually. The company is headquartered in Siloam Springs, Arkansas.
Simmons Foods is a subsidiary of parent company Simmons, which also operates Simmons Prepared Foods, Simmons Pet Food, Simmons Feed Ingredients, Simmons Custom Processing, Simmons Energy Solutions, and ProCal. Simmons Energy Solutions also has operations in the Jay area, and those operations will continue.
