Tyson Foods subsidiary Cobb-Vantress Inc. plans to build a feed mill in Laurens County with a $22 million investment to create 12 positions. The facility in Joanna, S.C., will supply Cobb’s farms in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, and is slated for completion mid-2017.
The investment announcement is one of the first for Laurens this year, after the county pulled in $147.2 million in 2015, according to data supplied by Laurens County Development Corp. to Upstate Business Journal.
The poultry feed mill dovetails with the state’s growing poultry industry, and is exactly the type of value-added agribusiness needed in South Carolina, said Jack Shuler, director of the Office of Agribusiness Development under the S.C. Department of Agriculture.
“They looked at what would make sense in terms of a feed mill for a lot of different houses, and this is a central location,” said Shuler, who said the company considered neighboring states. “Anderson County, Oconee County, even Greenville County have a tremendous number of poultry houses, so it’s already in the Upstate area. As we look at population growth projections, we’re going to continue to need protein, and poultry is one of the better converters.”
The announcement follows food service and food packaging firm D&W Fine Pack’s $20 million expansion investment in Laurens County, as well as Limehouse Produce Co.’s $8.3 million investment in the lowcountry.
“We want to ensure that we have a long-term internal feed supply that will give us complete control over the consistency and quality of the end product,” Cobb-Vantress Director of World Technical Services Dr. Steve Bolden stated in a news release. “This is Cobb’s third feed mill in the U.S., the others being in Siloam Springs, Ark., and in Albany, Ky. With the completion of the Joanna feed mill, we will internally produce all of our feed supply for pedigree operations through to grandparents.”
Founded in 1916, Cobb-Vantress is a poultry research and development firm with seven facilities worldwide, according to its website. The Laurens County mill will use a dedicated rail spur to transport supplies to other U.S. regions, with production reaching 1,200 tons per week from the Upstate.
“Agribusiness has long been a stable of the South Carolina economy as well as Laurens County’s,” Laurens County Development Corp. Chairman Stan Bryson stated. “Cobb-Vantress’ investment in our community further illustrates just how important agriculture is to our state and community. We welcome them to Laurens County and look forward to a long and prosperous relationship.”
