The State Funding Board of Tennessee on May 23 awarded a financial incentive package amounting to $20 milllion as the company plans to build a new poultry complex in Humboldt, Tennessee.
According to an Associated Press report on the U.S. News and World Report website, $14 million in state funds are earmarked for water, sewer and electrical improvements, while $6 million will be allocated for new construction.
Tyson Foods in November 2017 announced that it would build the complex in Humboldt, which is to include a processing plant, a hatchery, a feed mill and related operations. The processing plant will produce pre-packaged trays of fresh chicken for retail grocery stores nationwide, and is expected to process 1.25 million birds per week.
The complex is expected to be operational in late 2019.
Since Tyson announced its intent to build the complex in Humboldt, it acquired grain elevators in Humboldt, Dyer, and Kenton, Tennessee from The Andersons Inc. The facilities were purchased to support the feed needs for the future Tyson poultry complex, as well as the company’s existing operations in Union City, Tennessee. The financial terms of that agreement were not released.
Tyson Foods chose to build the new complex in Tennessee after plans to build the complex in the Leavenworth County, Kansas, community of Tonganoxie were taken off the table among public opposition and withdrawn support from local and state government officials. Tyson Foods first announced its intent to build in Leavenworth County on September 5, 2017.
Tyson Foods, according to the WATTAgNet Top Poultry Companies Database, is the largest broiler company in the United States. In 2017, the company processed 174.8 million pounds of ready-to-cook chicken. The diversified protein company is also the sixth largest turkey company in the U.S., having slaughtered 349 million pounds of live turkeys in 2017. The company is headquartered in Springdale, Arkansas.
