Tyson Foods on Thursday announced it will invest $48 million to increase its fully cooked processing capacity in its Pine Bluff, Arkansas plant.
Nearly 70 jobs will be created by the project, which is expected to be completed by late 2021.
The Pine Bluff plant and related operations were built by Tyson Foods and opened in 1991. The facility produced fully cooked chicken products for food service and retail customers, such as grocery stores and quick serve restaurants, according to a Tyson Foods press release. The facility employs more than 1,100 people and paid nearly $47 million in wages during FY2020. Tyson recently raised starting hourly wages at the facility to at least $15 an hour.
Tyson Foods employs more than 24,000 people across Arkansas with an annual payroll of more than $1.4 billion.
“The demand for convenient, high-quality chicken products continues to grow and we’re investing in projects that meet the needs of our customers and consumers,” Tyson Foods chief operating officer and group president, poultry, Donnie King said. “We’d like to thank the Arkansas Economic Development Commission and the Economic Development Alliance for Jefferson County for their assistance and support of this project.”
“Since John H. Tyson spotted an opportunity in the 1930s and expanded his local deliveries from Northwest Arkansas to St. Louis, Kansas City and Chicago, Tyson Foods has built a name on the company’s ability to see a need early and fill it with a quality product, Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson said. “Nearly 100 years later, the family and the company continue the tradition, which has made life better for the thousands of people who have worked for the company, and the millions of people who enjoy their products.”
