Meat + Poultry - August 2009 - 16

BUSINESS NOTES
Pilgrim's Pride to close two plants
Pilgrim's Pride Corp., Pittsburg, Texas, will close its poultry-processing
plant in Athens, Ala., as well as one
of the two processing facilities in Athens, Ga., as the company consolidates
operations and cuts costs. The company filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December 2008. The
closures are expected to occur
by mid-October.
"As we work
Jackson
to restr ucture
Pilgrim's Pride as a market-driven
company, we must continue to look
for ways to reduce our costs and operate more efficiently," said Don Jackson, president and CEO. The action is

not expected to cause a decrease in
production or changes in the fi rm's
product offerings.
"A key component of that effort is improving our capacity utilization through plant
consolidation and other
operational changes,"
added Jackson. "While
the decision to idle a
plant and eliminate
jobs is always painful
- and we regret that it
is necessary - it is absolutely critical to the future
of Pilgrim's Pride that we make
better use of our assets."
Shutting down the operations will
affect approximately 640 workers at
the Alabama facility, as production
from there will be shifted to two

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MEAT&POULTRY

August 2009

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other plants bringing them up to full
operating capacity. The company will
continue to operate its hatchery and
feed mill in Alabama and no
significant reductions in the
number of contract growers are expected.
Production from
the company's Athens,
Ga., plant on Oneta
St. will move to the
fi rm's nearby Barber
St. plant. Approximately 330 employees will
be affected by that closure.
Production will also be shifted
to other operations in north Georgia, which will bring those facilities
to full capacity. The live production
operations in Athens will continue
to operate.

ConAgra resumes
production at
Garner plant
In late July, work resumed at ConAgra
Foods' Slim Jim meat-snack plant in
Garner, N.C. On June 9, a gas explosion damaged the half of the building
that handled product packaging, killing
three employees and injuring nearly 40
more. Training was scheduled to start
July 19, and production resumed July 27.
"The production area will reopen,
but the packaging area remains closed,"
ConAgra spokesman Dave Jackson said. "We will
produce Slim Jims
in Garner and in
Troy, Ohio, and
use third parties
for packaging. All workers will return
when we reopen."
The workers have been paid their
wages since the explosion closed the
facility. Investigators said the blast appeared to stem from natural gas being
vented into the building.

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Meat + Poultry - August 2009

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