Poultry processor expands in Alabama

TGADSDEN, Ala. — One of the largest poultry processors in the U.S. is investing nearly $16 million to expand a processing plant in Alabama, an investment officials say will provide 135 jobs over the next three years.

The funds will go toward the production line of the Koch Foods processing plant in Gadsden, making the company Etowah County’s secondlargest employer, the city said Wednesday in a news release. The company currently has roughly 1,000 employees at the plant.

The Gadsden City Council on Tuesday approved a 10-year tax break for the company on all state and local noneducational property taxes and all noneducational construction-related transaction taxes, the release said. But officials believe the expansion will increase funding for schools and generate more taxes for the city.

“We’re really proud to have Koch Foods in Gadsden,” Mayor Sherman Guyton said in the news release. “I’m pleased that they’re continuing to expand here, bringing new developments and more good-paying jobs for our citizens.”

Koch Foods expanded its Gadsden plant in 2018, and in 2019, announced a new poultry feed-mill in nearby Attalla.