Hearing Set On Pet Food Plant Expansion

Fayette County Commissioners scheduled a public hearing for Thursday, May 20 over the proposed Purdue Farms tax abatement. Commissioners decided to hold the meeting at 6 p.m. to give people who work until 5 p.m. an opportunity to attend.

Purdue Farms owns and operates a pet treat manufacturing plant in Schulenburg. The company asked the County for a property tax abatement to offset the cost of a multi-million dollar expansion of the Schulenburg plant. The expansion would lead to 28 new jobs at the plant, company officials said.

Back on March 11, Brian Johnston and Dolly Klesel spoke to commissioners about the company’s expansion plans.

Klesel, the facilities manager of the Schulenburg plant, said Purdue currently employs about 100 people in Schulenburg. Johnston, a vice president with Purdue, said his company is the nation’s third-largest poultry producer. The plant in Schulenburg produces smoked chicken pet treats that meet human food grade standards, Johnston said. The products are sold under the brand names Spot Farms and Full Moon.

“Purdue is really committed to the plant in Schulenburg,” Johnston said at the meeting last month. “The pet treat business has really exploded on us. Our biggest problem is producing enough product to sell to our existing customers.”

Johnston said the Schulenburg plant cannot keep up with demand and currently produces just half of the pet treats that Purdue sells. The company contracts with independent copackers to produce the other half. Johnston said expanding the Schulenburg plant will help the company to close that gap.

“We are really impressed with work from our team in Schulenburg,” Johnston said. “They perform outstandingly. We have to give them a new goal to shoot for, because every goal we give them, they beat. To do so, we’ve got to get the company to invest more in them so they can grow.”

“We are very proud of what we have accomplished,” Klesel said.

Johnston said the tax abatement would “help make the numbers look better” for Purdue’s board of directors, which will ultimately decide whether or not to proceed with the expansion. Klesel said that Purdue has committed to creating 28 new jobs is the expansion moves forward.

“They would start pay at $15 an hour, and there would be some salary positions $65,000 a year,” Johnston said. “We are projecting around $1 million in payroll a year.”

Johnston said this expansion could lead to even more growth opportunities for the Schulenburg plant in the future.

If Commissioners approve the abatement, it would be the second such deal in as many years for the County. Last year, Commissioners granted a tax abatement to the 7V Solar Farm. In that deal, 7V and the County agreed to a 10-year deal with a 75 percent abatement of property taxes on equipment and improvements in the first year. The abatement amount decreases by five percent every two years, ending at 55 percent in year 10. After that, the property will be taxed at the full rate.

County Judge Joe Weber said the proposed agreement with Purdue will be available for the public to view at his office in the courthouse and on the county’s website, www.co.fayette.tx.us before the public hearing. Representatives from Purdue Farms will be present at the hearing.