Perdue Begins Production In Lewiston
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COME THESE BIRDS Freshly hatched chickens are
shown in the Perdue Farms hatchery that will go to broiler
houses. They will later be processed in an area plant and
shipped to northern markets.
MY POlNT—Woodrow Price, right, business editor of the
Raleigh News and Observer, and Don Mabe, vie for points
during an interview during a recent media tour of Perdue
Farms’ complex in Northeastern North Carolina.
MR. TOUGH IN NEW SURROUNDINGS—Frank Perdue, president of the Salisbury, Md.-
based firm that has invested nearly S2O-million in a new complex in Northeastern North
Carolina is no stranger to TV audiences in metropolitan areas of New York, Philadelphia
and New England. He is shown as he taped an interview in front of the Lewiston plant for
local viewers,
Plant Will Creata About 1,000 Jobs
LEWISTON - Chicken
processing is underway at
the the new sl2-million plant
of Perdue Farms Inc.,
marking the final phase of
the integrated poultry
company’s expansion into
the Northeast section of
North Carolina.
Two hundred and forty
people will be employed at
the new plant initially, with
that figure expected to
reach 500 by July . When in
full production, employment
should approach 1,000
people. Additional hiring is
expected to begin in May or
June.
The new facility is located
off Highway 308,between
Lewiston and Kelford.
A tour of the Perdue
facilities Friday included:
Frank Perdue, president of
Perdue Farms; Donald
Mabe, executive vice
president of Perdue; Tom
Shelton, vice president and
general manager, Broiler
Production Division; and
Sewell Spedden, vice
president and general
manager, Feed & Grain
Division. Plant manager is
A1 Ball, who now lives in
Ahoskie and has worked
with Perdue for the past 15
years.
The initial production goal
for the plant is 6,000
chickens per hour. About
12,000 chickens per hour, or
a weekly output of 500,000
birds, grown locally, is
expected by early 1977.
The plant is situated on
240 acres and contains
180,000 square feet of floor
space.
The Lewiston plant is the
only fully air-conditioned
plant in the poultry
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IN THE PROCESS—A skilled worker is pictured as she
de-beaks and automatically vaccinates chickens at the
Perdue hatchery. From here they are given another
immunization prior to being moved out to broiler houses.
industry. It is the only plant
in the area to serve hot
meals daily in its cafeteria.
A registered nurse is in the
plant during production
shifts.
By the time that the
employment figure has
reached the 1,000 level, the
annual payroll will be
running at a figure of close
to $6-million.
The opening of the
Lewiston plant comes a
little over two years after
Perdue started building
chicken houses owned by
local farmers in the
Roanoke-Chowanarea.One
hundred and eighty of the
600 houses needed to supply
the Lewiston plant are
either in operation or
committed for construction.
Over 30 Perdue growers
will have constructed their
second house with the next
90 days.
The total Perdue and
grower investment in North
Carolina, when this new
expansion is completed, will
reach S4O-million, with
Perdue equipment and
facilities amounting to over
one half of the total.
Perdue started producing
feed for local operations in
October at their new mill in
Cofield. That mill employs
seven and is turning turning
out 1,000 tons of feed per
week. Perdue will be
purchasing some 1,000,000
bushels of locally-grown
corn to meet their initial
needs. This figure will rise
to 4,000,000 bushels in the
next two years.
In early February, the
first chickens were hatched
at the Perdue hatchery in
Murfreesboro. There are
currently 30 employees
there, with that number
expected to increase to
almost 40 in the next few
months.
Starting production at the
new hatchery will be 250,000
chickens per week. That
figure Will grow to 500,000
chickens per week in the
next month.
The eggs for the
Murfreesboro hatchery will
be provided by Perdue’s
Statesville, breeder
operation.
Perdue Farms Inc., is the
largest privately-owned
integrated poultry
processing company in the
industry. Headquarters are
located in Salisbury, Md.
Perdue has a processing
plant there, which processes
16,000 chickens per hour,
and another plant located in
Accomac, Va., processing
29,000 per hour.
Sales of the privately-held
firm are estimated at over
$l7O-million for 1975.
Chickens grown and
processed in North Carolina
will be sold in Perdue’s
three major marketing
areas of Metropolitan New
York, Philadelphia and New
England.
In all three areas, Perdue
is the largest seller of
branded poultry. Perdue is
highly visible in broadcast
and print advertising, which
has been production of the
Perdue brand more than
double in the last seven
years.
The opening of the new
Lewiston plant will
increase Perdue’s broiler
production capacity by over
20 per cent in the next year.
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NEWEST PROCESS FOR TRANSPORTING POULTRY—Perdu* Farms, Inc., has invested Ji-million in die newi
equipment available far hauling chickens. Instead of the conventional hoops, conveyors are used to load and unload t»
Mr#. Frank Reynolds, potetiag in insert, aacumeswayg to eliminate bruises with Dr. Frank Craig, Perdue’s dtrectorjj
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FROM THESE EGGS.......Frank Perdue, president of the poultry industry’s lgrgeg
privately-owned processing business, inspects eggs in the hatching process at the firm’s
plant in Northeastern North Carolina. A media photographer prepares his gear to record
the event. h ::
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ON THE LINE—Don Mabe, executive vice president of the $l7O-million Perdue ope&tics,
inspects broilers as they move through the processing plant near Lewiston. The
production is 12,000 chickens per hour.
PERDUE