A Mississippi-based chicken processing company plans to open a plant in Bastrop, LA that will create 317 jobs. Hazlehurst-based DG Foods Ltd. said it will spend $9.7 million for the plant, the second recent chicken processing project to receive state economic incentives to operate in northeastern Louisiana.
DG Foods plans to renovate an 88,000-square-foot building with full operations beginning in July 2011. The project will provide a needed boost to Morehouse Parish following the 2008 closure of an International Paper mill that had been the parish’s largest employer with 550 jobs, Kay King, head of the parish’s economic development agency, told Bloomberg News.
DG Foods is receiving a $700,000 state loan for the building and a forgivable $2.85 million loan for building improvements and is eligible for state industrial tax exemptions and work force training programs. State officials said both loans are based on the company following through on its plan and reaching hiring goals. The city of Bastrop has committed to infrastructure improvements and sewer upgrades.
Earlier this year, DG Foods announced a $2.78 million expansion of its plant south of Jackson, Miss., adding 200 jobs to a payroll of 350 employees with an incentive package from state and local governments. The company was founded in 2004 by three veteran poultry executives and currently processes about 250 million tons annually.
