Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey directed a letter to Tyson Foods CEO Donnie King, encouraging him not to close the poultry plants in the Missouri communities of Noel and Dexter.
Tyson, on August 7, announced its intent to close those two plants, as well as ones in North Little Rock, Arkansas; and Corydon, Indiana.
Bailey wrote: “With serious concern about your decision to close two plants in Dexter and Noel, Missouri. These plants are critical to local communities. The City Administrator of Dexter, for example, recently pointed out that Dexter ‘has been home to an active poultry production industry since the 1890’s, and the current plant location has been active since the Swift Poultry Company opened in the 1930’s.’ Closure will be devastating to the local economy. The same is true in Noel, where the plant employs 1,500 workers in a city whose population is 2,100.
“Closure will have ripple effects that will harm more than just the individuals who would lose their factory jobs. How can a restaurant or grocery store in a town of 2,000 people expect to stay open when 1,500 people lose their jobs? What will chicken farmers and grain growers do if the plants they have long relied on close?”
In his letter, Bailey said if keeping the plants open is not an option for the company, Tyson should instead sell it to “any interested party.”
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, earlier wrote to King, offering similar recommendations and suggesting that by not selling the facilities after closure, it could be a violation of antitrust laws. Bailey, in his letter to King, referenced Hawley and his letter.
Hawley is also a former Missouri attorney general, holding that position from 2017 to 2019.
