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Tyson Foods Announces Plans to Build Animal Foods Plant Near
Texarkana
Multi-Million Dollar Facility to Help Tyson Ensure That Nothing Goes
to Waste
Texarkana, AR (June 6, 1996) Tyson Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:TYSNA) confirmed
its plans for a new animal foods ingredients plant at Buzzard Bluff in northeastern
Miller County (AR). The plant, which will be named South Arkansas Animal
Foods, is a continuation of Tyson's commitment to 100% utilization of its
poultry products.
The facility will be built on a 200 acre site approximately seven miles
northeast of Texarkana at Buzzard Bluff on the Red River. Initial design
plans call for five buildings totaling about 107,000 square feet. Total
capital investment is anticipated to be in the $30 million range.
Tyson announced its plans today at the Miller County (Arkansas) Court House
with Judge Hubert Easley presiding. At the ceremony, Judge Easley stated,
"I've had the opportunity to work closely with Tyson officials on this
location. I've toured their animal foods plant in Scranton and talked with
people in that community. There's no doubt that Tyson holds a deep commitment
to the people and quality of life in the communities where they have operations.
This facility will be a great addition to our area."
The plant is scheduled to begin operations in May of 1997. Initially operating
at about 95% of capacity, it will weekly process approximately 10 million
pounds of inedible residual parts from poultry operations into about 3.8
million pounds of finished ingredients for poultry, cattle and pet food.
The plant will have an annual operating budget of approximately $10 million.
Initially, the plant will offer about 135 new jobs to the area with an annual
payroll of around $3 million.
The operations will include state-of-the-art wastewater and air treatment
facilities, an on-site laboratory and a truck maintenance facility.
In addition to the work on land and buildings, Tyson will be working with
the Arkansas Highway & Transportation Department on the improvement
of 5.2 miles of road, beginning with the addition of turn lanes on Arkansas
Highway 67. The road improvements will include the construction of new bridges
and roadbed drainage and the addition of a signalized railroad crossing.
The plant site has undergone four separate independent archeological surveys
which yielded no significant evidence of archeological value. Applications
have been submitted to the Arkansas Department of Pollution Control and
Ecology for air and water permits.
In announcing the plans for the facility, Tyson CEO Leland Tollett said,
"South Arkansas Animal Foods is the next phase in our continuing commitment
to the protection of the environment and making the best possible use of
the resources we work with. We already have the industry's most sophisticated
and efficient residual products recycling facilities. This new facility
will appropriately help us carry these capabilities into the twenty-first
century.
"This site is geographically centered among several Tyson production
complexes which will utilize its capacity. The area has a readily-available
workforce, and local governmental and industrial development groups have
been most cooperative in assisting us in the site selection process. We're
confident that we've made a good decision and look forward to a great relationship
with our new neighbors in Miller and Hempstead Counties."
The plant will initially process products from Tyson operations in Broken
Bow, Oklahoma; Grannis, Nashville, and Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
According to Tyson Vice President and Division Manager, Jim Cate, "Operations
like this allow us to make sure that absolutely no part of the chicken is
wasted. With today's consumers seeking more convenient products, we now
further process much more of the chicken we sell. This means we debone and
remove the skin from many more products than in the past. In the home, these
bones, skins and other residue are thrown into the garbage or the garbage
disposal and become the problems of municipal landfills or wastewater treatment
facilities. A facility such as this, along with further processing, makes
use of these residual products and keeps them out of the environment."
The facility will complement Tyson's flagship animal foods plant, River
Valley Animal Foods in Scranton, Arkansas, and five other Tyson animal foods
ingredients plants.
The General Manager of South Arkansas Animal Foods will be Tom Place.
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