Tyson Foods President and CEO Donnie Smith talks with Noel White, the company’s president of poultry, and two employees of Jamesway, a company that will be involved in the Tyson Foods Incubator Center project in Springdale. Tyson Foods earlier today held a ground breaking ceremony to kick off the center’s construction.
Tyson Foods Chairman John Tyson, Tyson Foods board members and community leaders broke ground today on the future site of a new incubation center in Northwest Arkansas.
The completed project, which will be located in an eastern area of Springdale, will deliver hatching operations for the company’s Northwest Arkansas broiler chicken business.
“We have a rich heritage in Springdale, and we’re proud to continue our tradition of investment here with the new incubation center,” Tyson said. “Since we’re a company that’s always looking for ways to be better, world-class innovation will be a key part of this building.”
The incubation center will be at the corner of Huntsville Avenue and Monitor Road and will be built with an emphasis on technology. The company plans to install robotics to assist with worker safety and ergonomics, and use state-of-the-art ventilation and internal environmental controls. The facility will be built with the latest advances in biosecurity measures, which is designed to help promote better overall bird health.
“John Tyson and the Tyson family have made the revitalization of downtown Springdale a priority,” Springdale Mayor Doug Sprouse said. “Even though this project isn’t officially ‘downtown,’ it’s at the end of Emma Avenue and is proof of Tyson Foods’ commitment to our town. The City of Springdale is honored to be home to Tyson Foods, and we’re grateful for this additional investment.”
The project calls for more than 75,000 square feet of construction, which is scheduled to be complete in mid-2017.
Operations at the Incubation Center will replace the company’s hatchery in the city of Lincoln and the hatchery on Randall Wobbe Road in Springdale, which has been in operation since the 1960s. About 35 people will be employed at the incubation center once it’s fully operational.
In October, Tyson Foods announced it would renovate property in Springdale’s downtown, including its original headquarters located on Emma Avenue and the adjacent building. A two-story, 44,000 square-foot structure will be constructed on the site, preserving the original frontage. Workspace for more than 200 people will be created. The project is scheduled to be completed in the second half 2017.
Tyson Foods employs more than 6,000 people in Springdale and nearly 23,000 people in Arkansas.
