Sanderson Farms, a Mississippi-based chicken producer, plans to build a processing plant, feed mill and hatchery in Kinston, creating about 1,500 jobs by 2010.

The company said Thursday that it expects to begin construction of the three facilities this summer, and open by late 2009. The complex will process as many as 1.25 million birds a week.

The state has agreed to a maximum of $5.6 million in tax incentives over three years, based on the company meeting job and investment targets, said Mike Cockrell, Sanderson's chief financial officer. Kinston and Lenoir County have also offered tax breaks, but Cockrell said he could not provide details.

Winning the plant is a boon for Lenoir County, which has a 5.7 percent jobless rate and has been hurt by additional losses in recent weeks. In March, Smithfield Packing said it would close a ham factory and eliminate 476 jobs.

Sanderson said it chose Kinston because it received strong community support and found a good supply of water and labor.

"We look at 43 different things before we decide to build a plant somewhere," Cockrell said.

Sanderson plans to spend $126.5 million on the complex and estimates that roughly 130 independent farmers will be needed to grow chickens. Those farmers will spend an additional $98 million in chicken houses and other equipment, according to company estimates.

The average pay for the plant's estimated 1,350 hourly workers will be $25,000 a year. About 150 salaried employees will earn an average $50,000, Cockrell said.

Sanderson is expanding at a time of turmoil in its industry.

Soaring costs for corn and other expenses have hurt poultry processors. Pilgrim's Pride, for instance, plans to close its chicken plant in Siler City by June, throwing 836 employees out of work.

For Sanderson, the new plant will allow it to sell and deliver overnight to retailers in the Northeast. The company has plants in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Georgia. The Kinston factory will be its first in North Carolina.

"We've grown at a double-digit rate since 1992, and this plant will allow us to continue to do that," Cockrell said.

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