Pilgrim’s Pride Opens New Chicken Feed Mill
Published Jun 27, 2008
When Lonnie “Bo” Pilgrim co-founded Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. in 1945, it was a small feed store.
The nation’s largest chicken company just expanded its presence here with a new $18 million poultry feed mill in Natchitoches.
Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation, a Fortune 500 company that in 2007 posted $7.6 billion in sales, opened the mill to replace another nearby.
The new facility has been anticipated for several years, as Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry Bob Odom signed a 15-year lease with city officials so that Pilgrim’s Pride could pay $50,000 annually for use of the land, which conveniently lies along the Union Pacific Railroad line. Construction began in late 2005.
“We are extremely proud to continue to expand our presence in Natchitoches,” says Clifford Butler, vice chairman of Pilgrim’s Pride. “Without the help of the City of Natchitoches and Mayor Wayne McCullen, the Louisiana Department of Agriculture & Forestry and Commissioner Bob Odom, and the Louisiana Department of Economic Development, this project could have never been started. It has been great working with all these people and all their people behind the scenes who did a fine job in bringing us here today.”
The new mill is expected to create 30 new jobs directly and has a projected economic impact of $1.5 billion per year.
Story by Chris Clancy
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