A new water tower will be built in Fairfield, Ohio, largely as a result of anticipated increased water usage brought on by the expansion at Koch Foods’ poultry plant in the city.
According to a report from the Journal-News, the city council considered a $190,480 contract with CT Consultants for the final design and permitting of a new water tower. The potential tower would have a 1.25 million gallon capacity.
Construction of the new tower – which would be the sixth for the city – was a part of the city’s new incentive package for Koch Foods’ expansion.
The Koch Foods project, according to an earlier report, will 402,140 square feet to the complex. The expansion is expected to be completed around the end of 2022. It is expected that as many as 600 new jobs will created as a result of the expanded plant. Presently, the plant employs about 1,190 people.
Public Utilities Director Adam Sackenheim told the Journal-News that the new water tower will not only help the city meet the water needs of Koch Foods, but will help with other industrial growth being experienced in Fairfield.
Fairfield secured the land where the water tower is to be built in mid-2021.
Founded in 1985 as a one-room chicken deboning and cutting operation with 13 employees, Koch Foods, based in Park Ridge, Illinios, has since grown to be one of the largest vertically integrated poultry processing companies in the United States.
According to the WATTPoultry.com Top Companies Database, Koch Foods processed 60.74 million pounds of ready-to-cook chicken on a weekly basis during the past year. The company has eight slaughter plants, four further processing plants, seven hatcheries and five feed mills. In addition to having operations in Ohio and its home state of Illinois, Koch Foods operates in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee.
