Construction continues at Tyson Foods facility in Danville, set to open in August

DANVILLE, Va. (WDBJ) - Construction continues at the future Tyson Foods facility at the Cane Creek Centre industrial park in Danville.

Tyson Foods began construction on its 325,000-square-foot facility in 2021.

The $300 million investment will create around 400 jobs.

“Anytime you bring a name, like Tyson Foods to the area, it tells you that the region is doing the right things,” said Matt Rowe, Director of Economic Development for Pittsylvania County. “We’re not just bringing in a great corporate citizen that is known nationwide for being active and having a positive impact in the communities where they operate, but also direct impacts with the employees themselves.”

Rowe says the jobs will bring a higher wage than the average for Pittsylvania County.

“My goal and hope is that many of those employees are students right now, probably finishing up high school. I know that the goal of the county and the city is to keep as many of our local youth here, and the only way to do that is to create opportunity. So, that’s really what this plant is doing and what this plant represents,” added Rowe.

The workforce pipeline programs in the area were a large factor in Tyson Foods’ decision to come to Danville.

“We walked them through the programs and they interacted with the students themselves. When they left here, they realized, ‘you know what, we can add a lot more automation into this process than what we were anticipating,’ Of course, it reduced the number of jobs, but it calls the average wage to go up. So, this will be probably one of their most automated high tech plants in their entire inventory nationwide,” explained Rowe.

They say the facility will be up and running by August.

Copyright 2023 WDBJ. All rights reserved.