Northeast Alabama Airport Proposed Rendering Plant

$73M investment 
97 jobs
Average pay of $24/hour before benefits; reported $16.42 base start pay before benefits
-exceeds state base rate requirements of $13/hour; however Etowah County is a "Jumpstart County" as defined by 2019 HB 540 enrolled 5/30/3019
-jumpstart counties are classified as rural, low-growth, high-tech deficit, and are eligible for a lower base rate of pay to qualify for state incentives
All customers of Pilgrim's Pride (noted in slide show) are required to inspect the source plant once a year
Rendering plant would produce 3 different products  chicken by mill , fat and feather mill
99% of the renderings are recycled, it was unknown at the time of the presentation what happens to the remaining 1% note:  1% is evaporation of water through the cooking process
The top 20 or so engineering jobs will not likely be hired from within the community as the skill set will be hard to find here; the "worker bee" jobs will be things like truck washers
Rendered byproduct proteins begin to break down after 2 hours of processing
Rendered product will be transported in  trucks covered by tarps; blood offal will be transported in container trucks
The plant will render products from 4 of its own plants: Russellville, Guntersville, Chattanooga and one in Georgia. (I failed to ask which specific plant in Georgia, but may be one just across the state line off Interstate 20.)
Hooks stated that due to the existing poultry business in Etowah County and the trucks already traveling through the county going to Hanceville the new plant will not significantly increase amount of offal currently traveling our roads.
 2 towers are proposed for the location measuring approximately 60 feet, one houses 2 room-air scrubbers, and one houses a thermal oxidizer (These are the things that eliminate any odor) but the grain tower will be the tallest structure Note: Still to be determined based on FAA requirements.
ADEM permit must come before FAA permit; architect/engineer is unable to show where stacks will be until ADEM permit is acquired
Proposed plant plans to capture rainwater, regenerate through the system and dump into city sewer; will be pretreated before being dispensed
Some other specific questions that were asked about the project and area are as follows:
Are there any claw backs that would mandate the Pilgrims Pride convey the property and its facilities back to the City of Gadsden and/or the airport authority should it be vacated? 
As is common in all IDA agreements there will be. However, it is too early in the process to have those ironed out and -Without signing a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA), no information about claw backs could be provided. Our executive committee elected not to sign NDAs as the purpose of the meeting was to gather data to be shared with our membership and engaging in an NDA would eliminate the ability to discuss the project or any project actively working, will work or has worked in the past by the IDA whatsoever indefinitely without the specific, written permission of the Executive Director of the Gadsden-Etowah Industrial Development Authority or his representative. 

Has the IDA reached out to surrounding municipalities to determine if this project will positively or negatively impact industrial or commercial recruitment in that area or in their respective municipality?
-No – this is not something that the IDA does during the recruitment process on any projects. Especially when you may have the potential for multiple cities or the County in competition.

Has the IDA reached out to existing industry in the area to determine if they feel this would negatively or positively impact future expansions and their current workforce quality of life?
-No  

Are there any existing contracts between the city of Gadsden, IDA and/or airport authority with Pilgrim's Pride?
-No

Added by request of David Hooks, IDA Director: This is what I witnessed on my tour of Eagle Grove, Iowa.  If I had to pick one word to describe what the Rendering Plant had meant to the town it would be Prosperity. These videos were commissioned by and paid for by Pilgrims Pride, and the entity Growing Gadsden is managed by Pilgrims Pride. 
 
Episode 1: https://www.facebook.com/GrowingGadsden/videos/834427903797092
Episode 2: https://www.facebook.com/GrowingGadsden/videos/275490417329291
Episode 3: https://www.facebook.com/GrowingGadsden/videos/145575780694133
Episode 4: https://www.facebook.com/GrowingGadsden/videos/1040494086447537
Episode 5: https://www.facebook.com/GrowingGadsden/videos/1014689902273593
Episode 6: https://www.facebook.com/GrowingGadsden/videos/883858179054038
 
*Note: These videos feature residents of Eagle Grove, Iowa where Prestage Farms constructed a combined pork processing and rendering plant that brought 1,000 jobs to a city of 3,400.  

Anticipated Trucking Routes Based on Processing Plant Locations

• From Russellville: travel time - 2 hours, 6 minutes; the trucks will apparently enter the county on Hwy 278 at Snead, travel through Walnut Grove and take Hwy 77 through a portion of Attalla, turn on Airport Industrial Boulevard, then turn on to Steele Station Road before entering their plant at the airport.
• From Guntersville: travel time - 48 minutes; the trucks will apparently enter the county on Hwy 431 at Sardis City, travel through Mountainboro, Rockledge and will take Hwy 77 through a portion of Attalla, turn on Airport Industrial Boulevard, then turn on to Steel Station Road before entering their plant at the airport.
• From Chattanooga: travel time - 1 hour, 27 minutes; the trucks will apparently enter the county on Interstate 59 South and will exit at the Hwy 77 Attalla exit, take 77 to Airport Industrial Boulevard, then turn on to Steel Station Road before entering their plant at the airport.
• From Georgia: travel time - 1 hour, 31 minutes; I am unsure where the trucks will enter the county. If the trucks exit at the Oxford 431 bypass, they would enter the county in Glencoe. From that point they could travel into the city of Gadsden, take Interstate 759 to Interstate 59, then exit at the 77 Attalla exit. They could potentially also take Green Valley Road from 431 to Southside/Hwy 77, but I’m not sure if trucks are permitted on Green Valley Road and if not, this would not be a legitimate route option. They may also travel along Interstate 20 to the Lincoln Hwy 77 exit, and enter the county on 77 at Southside, travel through Rainbow City, and potentially turn on to Steele Station Road; however I have been told that they will be required to travel to Airport Industrial Boulevard instead, then turn on to Steele Station Road before entering their plant at the airport.

Executive Committee Meeting with Rainbow City Mayor Joe Taylor
The council of Rainbow City passed a resolution in opposition of the rendering plant
Taylor reported having spoken to/met with individuals living/working within a 10-mile radius of the Hanceville rendering plant, stated plant has had upgrades but continues to emit odor and particulate
Reported that as a Gadsden City firefighter, two of the worst accidents he had to respond to were HAZMAT incidents involving trucks carrying renderings, reported that the odor infiltrated turnout great to the point he had to be issued new gear
Noted that co-location of unrelated industry to meat processing isn't common; noted that a four-lane divided highway was constructed to current Koch plant in anticipation of additional development that has not occurred
Reported that during his campaign he had worked to secure 2 new industry and 2 commercial development projects to the Rainbow City area. The 2 retailers and 1 industry are currently on hold and have reported to him that they will not locate if the rendering plant is built. One industry has pulled their project and is pursing another location, reporting the proposed rendering plant as the reason for their decision to not locate. 
Reported that the one industry on hold will bring 150 jobs with an average salary in the high $30s and will offer benefits. The industry is high-end fabrication. 
Reported that the industry that has canceled plans to build in Etowah County would have been in warehousing.

President's Conversation Notes from meeting with former mayor of town with vacant Pilgrim's Pride plant
Pilgrim's Pride plant had 940 jobs at time of closure, had problems to overcome, announced quickly, no chance to rebut or assist
Vacated property and there has been no activity there since 
Attempts to negotiate the backfill with a similar but non-competing industry failed, reported that Pilgrim's Pride withdrew from negotiations and no further activity has been reported since

Etowah County Poultry Facts
Poultry accounted for 76.1% of the county's total agricultural and forestry production — by far the county's largest agricultural commodity
Poultry accounted for $128.2 million in production with more than 1,700 jobs for Etowah County
Poultry accounts for more than $2.6million in indirect business taxes
Source: Alabama Poultry and Egg Association

Alabama Poultry Facts
There are 9 meat-type poultry companies located in Alabama:

There are 23 broiler complexes scattered throughout the state.
There are 18 meat-type broiler processing plants located throughout Alabama processing over 22 million
broilers per week (over 1.1 billion per year).
This makes us the #2 state in the U.S. in broiler production as Georgia processes about 23 million per week and
Arkansas processes about 20 million per week.
There are 25 meat-type hatcheries located throughout Alabama hatching over 28 million chicks per week, a lot
of these are raised and processed outside of Alabama.
There are approximately 2,775 poultry producers in Alabama located in 49 counties. They produce pullets,
breeders, and broilers.
There is one egg-type hatchery in Alabama (Centurion Poultry in Bremen).
There are five table egg producers in Alabama with approximately 1.7 million birds:
• Cal-Maine – Baldwin County
• Weiss Lake Egg Co. – Cherokee County
• Keith James Egg Co. – Marshall County
• Warren Egg Co. – Marshall County
• Nature’s Best Egg Co. (Robert Haynes) – Cullman County
Poultry has a $15.1 billion impact on Alabama's economy, generating more than  65 percent of  agricultural commodity sales and employing more than 86,000 workers.

Technical Papers
c9s05-3
EPA 40 CFR 432