Pilgrims Pride shuts down Boaz Plant

The Pilgrim's Pride chicken processing plant in Boaz closed down operations friday, leaving behind an empty facility and forcing more than 1,000 workers to either transfer or look for other jobs.  Pilgrim's Pride announced plans to close the plant in November in an effort to help streamline operations and generate more than $200 million in savings this year. The company will consolidate operations in Russellville and Douglas, Ga., to absorb the Boaz processing facility and add about 100 new jobs.  Cameron Bruett, spokesman for Pilgrim's Pride, said the company has identified employment opportunities for about 44 percent of its Boaz workforce at facilities in Russellville, Guntersville and other locations. Employees who accept offers to transfer will receive relocation and housing assistance.  Doug Schult, head of human resources for Pilgrim's Pride, said the company held an on-site job fair and partnered with the state's Rapid Response Team to find assistance for displaced employees who cannot transfer to an alternate Pilgrim's location.  The Boaz facility, had been  the processor's smallest operation. Pilgrim's has been working with competing poultry facilities in Marshall, DeKalb and Etowah counties to find jobs for workers who cannot move with the company. Officials estimate hundreds of contract chicken farmers in Marshall County will be impacted by the shutdown. Some of them will shift to the Guntersville plant, but it may be tough for the growers who have to transport chickens to Russellville in Franklin County.