Butterball to create 367 jobs after taking over Raeford plant

Butterball announced Thursday that it has acquired a turkey cooking plant in Raeford where it plans to create 367 jobs over the next three years.

Garner-based Butterball acquired the facility from House of Raeford Farms, which used it to cook turkeys that were packaged and sold in grocery stores.

The announcement provides a much-needed economic boost for Raeford, a city of fewer than 5,000 people just south of Fort Bragg, and Hoke County. House of Raeford has been closing its Raeford facilities in recent years as it focused on expanding its chicken production and its line of chicken products.

The Rose Hill-based company shuttered its Raeford slaughtering plant in 2013, eliminating roughly 950 jobs. The cooking plant, which had employeed 400 people, closed in December.

Butterball plans to invest $66.75 million in the cooking plant. The company is eligible to receive a $150,000 One North Carolina Fund grant if it meets hiring and investment targets. The grant requires a local match.

The average annual payroll for the new jobs will be $10.6 million. That works out to just under $29,000 a year for each job.

Butterball is the country's largest turkey producer. It operates six processing plants in the U.S., including one in Mount Olive. The company employs 3,565 people in North Carolina, including 117 at its headquarters in Garner.

This story was originally published February 19, 2015 at 2:22 PM with the headline "Butterball to create 367 jobs after taking over Raeford plant."