Click Here to watch the announcement live.Simmons Foods announced today, they will build a new chicken facility between Decatur and Gentry along Highway 59. The facility is expected to create roughly 1,500 jobs.They expect to begin operations in 2019.Winning the bid in Arkansas means that roughly 800 employees that currently work at the Decatur plant will get to keep their jobs. Simmons' CEO, David Jackson, tells 40/29 News those jobs will be transitioned to the new facility, and the Decatur facility will be retrofitted to house new operations, creating another 200 jobs.The company says they will invest $300 million in the facility.The new facility will produce fresh and frozen chicken products for both retail and restaurant customers. The facility is estimated to be able to produce over 800 million pounds of poultry meat annually.

Click Here to watch the announcement live.

Simmons Foods announced today, they will build a new chicken facility between Decatur and Gentry along Highway 59. The facility is expected to create roughly 1,500 jobs.


They expect to begin operations in 2019.

Winning the bid in Arkansas means that roughly 800 employees that currently work at the Decatur plant will get to keep their jobs. Simmons' CEO, David Jackson, tells 40/29 News those jobs will be transitioned to the new facility, and the Decatur facility will be retrofitted to house new operations, creating another 200 jobs.

The company says they will invest $300 million in the facility.

The new facility will produce fresh and frozen chicken products for both retail and restaurant customers. The facility is estimated to be able to produce over 800 million pounds of poultry meat annually.