On December 4th, Butterball LLC advised the state of Arkansas under a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification that the company will close the Jonesboro facility on February 3rd, 2025. The plant produces further-processed turkey products employing 180 workers.
Jay Jandrain CEO of Butterball stated, “we deliberated for a long time about this difficult decision as we know it will affect team members and their families.” He added, “We are committed to helping our team members as they determine next steps in their careers.”
The decision by Butterball to close the facility and consolidate production in other plants follows rationalization and downsizing of facilities by Tyson Foods and other processors as a need to contain cost of production. Older plants that cannot be upgraded or expanded with installation of modern automated equipment to increase efficiency are obviously candidates for closure.