Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner 2009, and hopefully I will see you next year.
On February 27, 2009, Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation, which has been in Chapter 11 since last December, filed a motion with a United States Bankruptcy Court in Texas seeking approval to mothball the poultry processing plant and related facilities located here in Douglas and Coffee County. Such related facilities consist of a feed mill, a hatchery and several poultry houses.
Pilgrim’s employment and economic impact on this area of Georgia is staggering. Until it began idling its operations here in late February of this year, growers for Pilgrim’s had 8 pullet farms with 26 pullet houses; 19 hatching egg farms with 44 hatching egg houses; and 129 broiler grow-out farms with 598 broiler houses in the Coffee County area.
Pilgrim’s employment reached 1,284 in 2008, with its payroll and benefits totaled $34,036,568. Its contributions to the economy of Douglas and Coffee County and surrounding areas were $106,424,705 in payroll and grower payments in 2008.
As a result of an objection I filed on March 17 to the idling of such facilities on behalf of the Douglas-Coffee County Economic Authority, the City of Douglas, Coffee County and the local growers, and the Court’s subsequent finding that such idling would be financially catastrophic for the Douglas and Coffee County communities, the Court has directed Pilgrim’s to work toward selling rather than mothballing such poultry facilities.
The reason for sharing the foregoing it let my Democratic friends and readers know that but for this matter that I have been on almost full time since March 6, I would have been at the Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner tonight. Friday of this week is a big day on the Pilgrim's matter, and there is no way I could have gotten away. In fact, I just got home a few minutes ago.
I missed seeing so many of you and the many hugs, and hope to see you next year.
Pilgrim’s employment and economic impact on this area of Georgia is staggering. Until it began idling its operations here in late February of this year, growers for Pilgrim’s had 8 pullet farms with 26 pullet houses; 19 hatching egg farms with 44 hatching egg houses; and 129 broiler grow-out farms with 598 broiler houses in the Coffee County area.
Pilgrim’s employment reached 1,284 in 2008, with its payroll and benefits totaled $34,036,568. Its contributions to the economy of Douglas and Coffee County and surrounding areas were $106,424,705 in payroll and grower payments in 2008.
As a result of an objection I filed on March 17 to the idling of such facilities on behalf of the Douglas-Coffee County Economic Authority, the City of Douglas, Coffee County and the local growers, and the Court’s subsequent finding that such idling would be financially catastrophic for the Douglas and Coffee County communities, the Court has directed Pilgrim’s to work toward selling rather than mothballing such poultry facilities.
The reason for sharing the foregoing it let my Democratic friends and readers know that but for this matter that I have been on almost full time since March 6, I would have been at the Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner tonight. Friday of this week is a big day on the Pilgrim's matter, and there is no way I could have gotten away. In fact, I just got home a few minutes ago.
I missed seeing so many of you and the many hugs, and hope to see you next year.
posted by Sid Cottingham | 11:20 PM
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