Gov. Mike Beebe on Monday announced that Peco Foods Inc. will invest an estimated $165 million and create 1,000 new jobs in Randolph and Clay counties in northeast Arkansas.
The Tusacloosa, Ala.-based firm's new, fully integrated poultry processing network will include a hatchery and processing plant, just outside Pocahontas' city limits, and a feed mill in Corning, Beebe's office said in a statement. Groundbreaking on the feed mill site is set for April, while the work on the hatchery and processing site is scheduled to start in July.
“We are extremely pleased to formally announce this new project today,” Peco Foods President and CEO Mark Hickman said in the statement. “Arkansas is an excellent place to do business, and we look forward to providing new jobs and an economic boost to Randolph and Clay Counties. As we have experienced firsthand with our complex in Batesville, this state is home to an outstanding workforce that shares the goals and values of our company."
Peco Foods, the eighth-largest poultry processor in the U.S., operates a poultry complex in Batesville and a feed mill in Newark.
Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.