HARRISONBURG - Like most poultry producers, Tyson Foods has struggled recently with high costs and competitive markets in the meat and poultry industry.
But the company is looking to adapt. As part of its plan, the firm will shake up its Harrisonburg plant on North Liberty Street, resulting in the addition of 100 jobs.
"It's part of an ongoing effort to improve efficiencies in our operations," said Gary Mickelson, a spokesman for the company. "We're working our way back to profitability."
At the beginning of this year, the plant laid off 45 workers when it announced it was shifting its production focus from whole birds to cut-up chickens.
Mickelson said the Harrisonburg facility is once more changing its product mix and will be adding new equipment to the site.
With the new equipment, the plant will start chicken deboning and, in a separate venture, produce marinated whole birds.
Mickelson said the new employees will start in the next six weeks and the added operations should be up and running by July.
With the addition of the new jobs, the plant will employ a work force of about 500.
Hobey Bauhan, president of the Virginia Poultry Federation, said poultry producers employ thousands in the area and it's important they continue to grow.
"It's good news for our local economy whenever a poultry company decides to invest here," Bauhan said.
On The Rebound
After some struggles, Tyson Foods is once again profitable.
"Our chicken segment has been profitable since the end of February, and I am pleased with the consistent progress we are making," Leland Tollett, interim president and chief executive office, said in a statement following the release of second-quarter earnings earlier this month. "We have improved our operational efficiencies, our product mix, and we are benefiting from lower grain costs and more favorable chicken prices."
Bauhan said increased demand for ethanol last year hit the poultry industry hard by driving up grain prices. Ethanol as a gasoline additive in the United States comes largely from corn.
"From an industry standpoint, it's been an extremely tough year economically because of high grain prices," Bauhan said.
But, he said, Tyson Foods' earnings reports and the announcement of new jobs are indicators that the industry is rebounding.
"We're seeing some light at the end of the tunnel," Bauhan said. "I think it's a sign of strengthening in the chicken industry."
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