Tyson Foods Humboldt, Tennessee, poultry processing plant. (Tyson Foods)
The construction company that built the Tyson Foods poultry plant in Humboldt, Tennessee, filed a lawsuit against the company, as well as the Gibson County Industrial Development Board.
Gray Construction filed the $3.5 million lawsuit on December 29, alleging that it was shorted payments for the work it did on the facility, reported the Tennessee Lookout.
The lawsuit stated that Gray Construction was hired in 2018, but faced a series of delays as a result of other contractors’ missteps. The suit also alleges that Gray Construction had to incur costs to fix mistakes made by other contracts. The company also said it took on unforeseen expenses during the process because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Gibson county board is named in the lawsuit as the 375,000 square-foot Tyson Foods facility is located on property owned by the Gibson County board and leased to Tyson.
The construction company also filed a notice of a lien against the property to secure payments.
The Humboldt poultry complex was dedicated in April 2021 by company, local, state and federal officials with then-Tyson Foods CEO Dean Banks saying: “We appreciate the support of all those who played a role in making this facility possible—the local community, county, state and our Humboldt team members, who safely and responsibly produce high-quality protein daily to help feed our nation and the world.”
Banks’ tenure as president and CEO ended less than two months after the dedication ceremony.
At the time, it was estimated that the poultry plant would employ more than 1,500 team members by 2023, and would produce pre-packaged trays of fresh chicken for retail grocery stores nationwide.
The complex also includes a feed mill and hatchery. The feed mill was designed to supply feed for approximately 56 local poultry farmers, producing 14,000 tons of finished feed a week when production reaches full capacity. The hatchery provides chicks for local poultry farmers who supply broiler chickens to Tyson. Each of those facilities, the company announced during the dedication, would employ about 30 people.
