Peco Foods Launches $165M Poultry Complex in NE Arkansas

Peco Foods, a Tuscaloosa, Alabama-based processor and the eighth-largest in the U.S., announced plans for a fully integrated poultry complex spanning Randolph and Clay counties in northeastern Arkansas. The $165 million investment includes a feed mill, hatchery, processing plant, protein conversion facility and wastewater treatment plant, creating 1,000 jobs across the sites.[1][3] Groundbreaking for the feed mill begins in April 2026, with hatchery and processing plant work starting in July, leveraging state-of-the-art technology for efficiency and safety.[1][3] Peco, which processes 24 million pounds of poultry weekly, has deep Arkansas roots since acquiring the Townsends Poultry Complex in Batesville in 2011 and operating a feed mill in Newark.[1] CEO Mark Hickman highlighted the complex's role in expanding Peco's niche as a supplier of raw poultry for value-added national accounts, a core growth strategy.[1] The project builds on Arkansas's poultry dominance, where the industry supports thousands of family farms and drives rural economies. Local leaders in Randolph and Clay counties, long reliant on agriculture, view the complex as a lifeline for employment in areas with limited industry.[1][3] Peco's expansion comes amid statewide poultry growth, including Wayne-Sanderson Farms' $43 million feed mill opening in Danville last July and Simmons Foods' $300 million plant nearing completion in Siloam Springs.[2][4] Despite the initial Pine Bluff Commercial report on Dermott, no confirmed openings match there; this Peco project addresses the southeast's economic needs through ripple effects.[1]