Sanderson Farms' Waco Plant Finally Takes the Wing

The new Sanderson Farms plant in Waco will use “everything but the cluck” in the 1.25 million chickens it processes weekly when it reaches full production next summer.

“When you have an electric bill of $250,000 to $300,000 a month, you can’t waste a thing,” said Bob “Pic” Billingsley, director of development and engineering for Sanderson Farms.

He gave local leaders a tour of the plant Monday. The plant and the hatchery that serves it represent an $80 million investment for the Mississippi-based company, said Billingsley, who praised the local community for helping make the economic package happen.

It all started, Billingsley said, when he approached Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce officials in late 2005 with an idea for a plant. He then hosted City Manager Larry Groth and McLennan County Judge Jim Lewis on a tour of the company’s 10-year-old Bryan plant.

The Waco Industrial Foundation responded by making 300 acres available for a hatchery and a processing plant near Aviation Parkway, about a mile from the sprawling L-3 Communications plant.

Meanwhile, the Waco-McLennan County Economic Development Corporation put up $1.5 million in incentive money. The state put up $500,000. And the city and county approved tax breaks for the plant and hatchery.

Read the full Waco Tribune-Herald story here.