The
ews
IH
I ournal
Hoke Count3^s newspaper since 1905 L
No.37Vol.llO
Raeford & Hoke County n.c.
Wednesday, November 18,2015
Butterball investment double what it planned
Company to add 250 workers next year at former House of Raeford plant
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
Butterball will continue adding jobs
at its Raeford plant next year and has
invested millions more in the process
ing facility than it first announced at
the start of the project, company offi
cials said at a ribbon cutting last week.
“When all is said and done on this
first phase, and I will tell you it is a first
phase, we will have put close to $55
million into this facility,” Butterball
Chief Operations Officer Joe Nally
said.
The company bought the former
House of Raeford processing plant
in February and announced plans to
invest $26 million into the facility and
hire at least 350 people over a three-
year period. Once the company actual
ly got into the building and performed
renovations, Butterball increased those
expectations.
So far, the company has hired about
225 people to work at the Raeford loca
tion. Officials decided to move three
slicing lines into the facility and plan to
hire at least another 250 people in 2016.
Eventually, the company will employ
between 500 and 600 people at the
plant, officials reported.
There are parts of the plant that
are not completely finished right now,
Nally said, and hinted at additional
expansion in the future.
“We have plans for other things
coming down the road; we’re not 100
percent sure what that may be. We’ve
talked about burgers, we’ve talked
about hot dogs and sausage, but believe
me, as fast as we’re growing, as much
stuff as we’ve got going on, we will
definitely figure out what else to
{See BUTTERBALL, page 4)
Piedmont Natural Gas
to expand reach in Hoke
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
Piedmont Natural Gas,
recently acquired by Duke
Energy, is offering service
to customers in parts of
Hoke County and plans to
work with Butterball on
providing gas for its plant in
Raeford.
The company has built
a facility on N.C. 211 a few
miles west of town.
The company has about
750,000 customers in North
Carolina and more in Ten
nessee, spokesperson David
Trusty said.
“We have a pretty exten
sive natural gas distribution
network,” he said.
The gas company was
founded in 1951 and has
lines that run from Char
lotte to Wilmington and
pass through the counties
south of Hoke. All together,
the company maintains
25,000 miles of natural gas
pipeline that provide gas to
homes and businesses.
(See GAS, page 4)
Waste plant online, savings anticipated
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
Hoke County should
start saving money on its
bills this month as the new
wastewater treatment plant
gears up into full service.
The county previously
contracted with the Fayette
ville PWC to pay for waste-
water processing. With the
new plant up and running
now, the county can treat
the water locally, the board
of commissioners discussed
Monday night at the regu
larly scheduled meeting.
The board additionally
approved a change order
for the plant that included
about $122,000 of county
funding from the enterprise
(See PLANT, page 4)
This Week
Veterans Day Service
4 youth
attend conference
Page 2
Children give
blankets for
children
Page 6
Browsing the Files 2
Classifieds 8
Deaths 2
Editorials 3
Sports 5
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Butterball officials cut a ribbon with Mayor John K. McNeill
(right), Commissioner James Leach (second from left) and
the Chamber’s Sharon Burney (center).
Maultsby finishes the last of 50 marathons in 50 states. (Contributed photo)
Raeford native nails 50
marathons in 50 states
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
John Maultsby has run in boiling heat,
in freezing temperatures, encountered
dangerous wildlife on the trail and battled
dehydration and injuries while chasing
his dream of running 50 marathons in 50
states.
Last month, the 73-year-old grand
father of two ran number 50 in New
Hampshire, bringing an end to a 13-
year odyssey. His wife, their children,
his mother Lois Austin and many more
family members were there to cheer him
across the finish line.
Born and raised in Raeford, Maultsby
joined the Air Force when he was 19 and
went on to live and work in many differ
ent places, finally ending up in Las Vegas
where he works at the MGM Grand
(See MARATHONS, page 6)
Wreck hurts
3, ties traffic
'Jarla Grant and her daughter (top) lead a Veterans Day
Service audience in the Pledge of Allegiance Wednesday, and
veterans pray (bottom). A large crowd attended the service
at the Hoke Courthouse. (Hal Nunn photos)
A driver allegedly
ran a red light at the
intersection of High
way 401 Business and
North Fulton Street
around 4:30 p.m.
Monday and caused a
chain reaction ac
cident that damaged
four vehicles and sent
three people to the
(See WRECK, page 4)
This 4-car accident Monday occurred when a driver ran a red light.
(Catharin Shepard photo)