Mountaire Farms previously announced plans to re-open the former Townsend chicken processing plant in Siler City, North Carolina. The week, the Chatham County board of commissioners unanimously approved an incentive offer worth approximately $1.5 million over six years in the form of a property tax refund after property improvements are completed. The Siler Town Council also unanimously approved a property tax incentive worth approximately $800,000, putting the total incentive at $2.3 million over the next six years.
Mountaire plans to begin renovations soon to the plant, as well as a nearby building that will be turned into a feed mill, plus the expansion of a hatchery it purchased in Mt. Vernon in 2013. The company told Chatham County officials that the Siler City plant could be operational by February 2018. The Townsend processing plant was closed in 2011 when 550 workers were laid off.
