THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 1, 1995 TAG: 9502010422
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
LENGTH: Short : 38 lines
Virginia, North Carolina or South Carolina may soon be in hog heaven.
The world's largest producer of fresh beef and pork is considering each as a location for a massive hog processing plant that could employ up to 2,000 people.
IBP Inc. of Nebraska is interested in each state because of the concentration of hog farms that could supply the plant, company spokesman Gary Mickelson said. He named only one possible site - Duplin County, N.C.
IBP, with $12 billion in 1994 sales would be moving into the home territory of one a competitor, Smithfield-based Smithfield Foods Inc. Smithfield reported $1.4 billion in sales in 1994.
Mickelson said that sites in the region were attractive because ``IBP has been watching tremendous growth of hog production taking place in the Southeast United States. We think there's great potential for a modern IBP facility there. We think it will help our customer based in the southeastern United States.''
If IBP builds the plant in North Carolina, it could make the state the country's largest producer and processor of hogs. North Carolina now trails only Iowa in that category.
In making its decision, IBP will consider livestock availability, the work force, utility costs and environmental regulations, Mickelson said. The plant could discharge as much as 3 million gallons of wastewater a day, said Don Reuter, spokesman for the North Carolina Division of Environmental Management. That amount of waste is similar to what a small town might generate.
Mickelson said it is too early for the company to speculate on when it would make a decision on the plant's location. by CNB