Memphis company buys Dickson Tennessee Pride facility

A large, Memphis-based food manufacturer has purchased the former Odom’s Tennessee Pride facility in Dickson and is now hiring.

Monogram Foods acquired the facility, which was owned by Conagra. The sale closed this month, according to Dickson County property records.

The Conagra facility produced Tennessee Pride breakfast sandwiches and sausage with 300. Monogram Foods is expected to make a $50 million investment in the facility and add 120 more jobs that pay $20 an hour in the first three years of operation, according to Dickson County officials.

The company and acquisition has been referred to as “Project Knight” by county and city leaders.

Monogram Foods, which was founded in 2004 in Memphis, manufactures meat snacks, appetizers, assembled sandwiches, fully-cooked and raw bacon, corn dogs, and more. The company has over 3,000 employees and operates 10 manufacturing facilities in six states. Monogram Foods’ brands include King Cotton and Circle B Brand meats from Sara Lee as well as Wild Bill’s, O’brien’s, Trail’s Best, Hannah’s, Bull’s and licensed brands Bass Pro Shop’s Uncle Buck’s, Johnsonville, Butterball and Team Realtree.

The company is run by co-founder, Chairman and CEO Karl Schledwitz and co-founder and President Wes Jackson.

In a 2017 interview about the company being named Processor of the Year by a trade magazine, Schledwitz said, “We are by far the fastest growing protein company in America.”

Jobs listed online by Monogram Foods in Dickson include assembler, production lead, production supervisor, maintenance manager, and human resources manager. The assembler position requirements include assembling a minimum of 32 sandwiches per minute on the line.

Background

A 10-year payment in lieu of taxes agreement, or PILOT, was approved for the company in September by the county commission, Dickson City Council and county industrial development board.

“We always have to be moving forward to enhance our community like this,” said County Mayor Bob Rial at a September commission meeting.

Conagra announced in January 2020 that its Odom’s Tennessee Pride plant would close in 18 months. Production of the Tennessee Pride products is moving to Jackson, Tenn.

In 2012, Conagra bought the Tennessee Pride brand, which produces frozen and refrigerated breakfast sandwiches and sausage.

YALONDA M. JAMES/THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL Karl Schledwitz is the co-founder and CEO of Monogram Foods. The company manufactures and markets ready-to-eat jerky, corn dogs, pre-cooked bacon and other processed food items.