LaFayette getting new Pilgrim’s plant with 630 jobs
Credit: Courtesy of Pilgrim's
Walker County is getting a $400 million investment from a major poultry company expanding its footprint, Gov. Brian Kemp’s office announced Thursday, amid a statewide push to boost rural economic development.
Pilgrim’s, known for brands like Just Bare and Country Pride, will build a new prepared foods facility in LaFayette expected to create more than 630 jobs at full capacity. Hiring is slated to begin in 2027, when the first phase of construction is completed, and Georgia Quick Start will help facilitate job training.
The company already has a presence in the community through poultry production, which is Walker County’s top agricultural commodity, said Stephanie Watkins, who leads economic development in the county.
“They have been interested in Walker County for several years,” she said, citing the county’s proximity to Atlanta, Chattanooga and Huntsville as well as an “abundance of resources.”
Pilgrim’s already supports about 7,500 jobs in the state across seven production facilities, feed mills and hatcheries. LaFayette Mayor Andy Arnold called the number of jobs planned for the new Walker County facility a “game changer.”
The new facility will produce fully-cooked chicken products to meet increasing demand in both retail and food service for brands like Just Bare, Pilgrim’s and Gold Kist, Pilgrim’s CEO Fabio Sandri, said in a news release.
Agriculture is the state’s number one industry, Kemp’s office noted, and “creating jobs in rural Georgia and ensuring access to opportunity no matter the ZIP code has and always will be a priority for the governor,” Garrison Douglas, a spokesperson for Kemp, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Separately, 10 Georgia counties last month received a combined $8 million in grants as part of the state’s second round of grants in an initiative to develop rural sites. Those grants helped rural counties develop sites so that they might attract companies looking for an easier head start on facility preparation.
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