Tyson Building New Tennessee Plant; Kansas on Hold

Tyson Foods announced it will build a chicken-processing plant in western Tennessee. A Drovers’ report says the plant will be up and running by 2019 and will provide more than 1,500 new jobs. The $300 million plant will be built in the city of Humboldt. Tyson had already invested money in Tennesse as it announced an $84 million dollar expansion of its plant in Union City. Tyson chose Humboldt for its new site over several other locations in the state. A similar plant was proposed in Leavenworth County, Kansas, but public backlash over the plant kept the plan from getting any footing. There were three other locations discussed as potential replacement sites. Kansas Department of Agriculture officials issued a statement congratulating Tennessee on the announcement. “We look forward to continuing to work with Tyson as they further evaluate expansion of their poultry business unit growth opportunities,” says Heather Lansdowne, KDA Communications Director. Tyson officials say they are still interested in building a production plant in Kansas but those plans don’t look to be happening in the near future.