A shuttered poultry processing plant in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, is set to reopen under new ownership.
Texas-based Cornerstone PB Holdings LLC and Cornerstone Processing LLC announced they will reopen the poultry processing plant, located at 2201 W. Second Street.
The plant was built in 1957 formerly operated by Tyson Foods, which closed it in 2003. Since that time, it has been operated by Horizon Foods, which opened it in 2012, but closed it about a year later. Summit Poultry took over operations shortly thereafter, but the facility was only in operation for several months before it was again closed, reported the Pine Bluff Commercial. Spent hens were processed at the plant while it was operated by Horizon and Summit.
According to a press release from the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, Cornerstone Processing made significant improvements and renovations to the plant, including the construction of a holding area with the capacity to temporarily accommodate as many as eight truckloads of live hens in a covered and cooled environment.
Production at the plant is expected to begin in early 2020, and as many as 150 jobs will be created during Cornerstone Processing’s initial stage of hiring.
“We are thrilled to announce that after long last, we will be opening Cornerstone Processing for business in the very near future,” Ashley Dugas, partner of Cornerstone stated in the press release. “We are committed to being an upstanding corporate citizen who gives back to the Pine Bluff and surrounding communities by providing employment for hundreds of people and fostering positive relationships at the local, regional and state levels.”
Stacey Kesler to manage facility
Stacey Kesler, who has more than 10 years of experience in the poultry processing industry, has been hired to be the plant manager and director of operations. Kesler most recently worked as the manager of Water Valley Poultry in Water Valley, Mississippi.
“We look forward to a mutually-beneficial relationship with the good folks of Pine Bluff, and we will be looking for hard-working and committed workers to help us get there,” said Kesler.
