Projects Beef Up,
Give Rise to State's Economy

A couple of recent food processing projects have whetted Mississippi's industrial appetite.
        In the small Yalobusha County town of Oakland, Mississippi Beef Processors is building a $32-million cull cow processing plant capable of processing 1,000 head per day. Scheduled for completion in July, it will employ about 350 at its location just off I-55. Richard Hall, owner of Hall Farms Transportation Co., which transports livestock and refrigerated goods, is building the facility.
        The plant will shop meat products nationwide, with the primary source of cattle coming from producers within a 500-mile radius of the facility. Area cattle farmers will save 5-percent transport fees charged when shipping cattle to out-of-state processors. About 60 percent of production will be hamburger with the remainder prime cuts of meat. Markets will be the Midwest and Southeast. The Mississippi Land, Water & Timber Resources board approved a $5-million grant for the plant.
        In Hattiesburg, USA Yeast, a startup company, just opened a $10-million, 37,000-sq.-ft. (3,400-sq.-m) yeast processing plant, which will employ 50. The company, formed by investors from Dothan, Ala., makes yeast for high-speed wholesale baking operations in the Southeast and Midwest.
        Mike Lavalle, a partner in the project, says Hattiesburg is centrally located within the new company's markets. Good electric, water, rail and sewer services in Hattiesburg were also major considerations, he says.