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Tyson president tours Dawson chicken facility

• A Dawson plant employee is recognized for coming up with an innovation that saves time and costs.

Susan McCord

DAWSON — The president and CEO of Terrell County's largest single employer was greeted warmly by several dozen local and state officials Wednesday in Dawson.

Tyson Foods' Dick Bond assured them all of Tyson's commitment to the community and even entertained several requests for an expansion at the Dawson plant.

"Any facility that we have, and we have about 104, has to be connected to the community," Bond said. The key to that connection is not Tyson's local payroll (10.2 million to its 315 employees), but that "our facility and all our team members want to take care of that community, take care of our children. Thank you for embracing Tyson Foods."

Bond recognized a plant employee, electrical maintenance technician Kenny Hogan, for an "innovative, positive" contribution he'd made to plant operations.

A program change Hogan designed had reduced "batch times" for moving a Tyson product from 10 minutes to 4 1/2 minutes, saves the plant $8,000 a day and won him a $1,000 reward for his innovation, Bond said.

"I'd like to know if we cold borrow him," said Wilbur Gamble, chairman of the Terrell County Commission. "Not necessarily $8,000 a day, but $1,000 a day would be great."

Ezekiel Holley, president of the Dawson branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, accepted a $2,000 check from Bond.

"On behalf of your youth council, thank you for your contribution. It is for a scholarship," said Holley, who also thanked Tyson for its contributions to st. Jude Children's Hospital.

Though cold rain canceled the formal ceremony, Food Bank of Southwest Georgia officials Wednesday accepted a donation of 34,000 pounds of chicken on behalf of its parent organization, Second Harvest of Georgia.

Tyson has given more than "49 million pounds of protein" since 2001, Bond said. "One of the most important things that we do in our community is fight hunger," he said.

Dawson Mayor Robert Albritten expressed his thanks to the city's largest local employer.

"We ask that you would consider expanding your presence in our community and help us lower our unemployment. I guarantee that we would show respect for your company, and we will provide you with good workers, if you will just expand your facility," Albritten said.

Bond said that as demand for products made at the plant increased, "we will continue to keep you in mind (and) certainly be looking upon Dawson very favorably."

Terrell County superintendent of schools Robert Aaron said "as you look to expand, we look to bring you those students that are job-ready."

Tyson has always been a big community supporter, contributing a board member to the Terrell Chamber of Commerce and giving chicken and grants to local organizations, said Ed Duskin, president of the Terrell County Development Authority. "We appreciate these things," he said.

"We're glad to have them," said Ed Shuler, president of the Bank of Terrell. "They're a big part of our local economy and a major employer. They don't ask for things. They contribute things."

Another large local employer, Dawson Manufacturing, closed its doors last year.

The Tyson plant manufactures all but one of Wendy's chicken menu items from chicken prepared at another facility. Bond visited Tyson's Vienna processing plant earlier Wednesday. Tyson operates a third plant in Southwest Georgia in Oglethorpe.

"We're like a big kitchen here," said Kemal Beach, the plant's manager for a year and a half. Relocating from central Arkansas, Beach said the area, its people and its weather were "great."

The products made at the plant move from Dawson to an Atlanta distribution center on to Wendy's restaurants all over the country, said Erick Tangness, who manages Tyson's Wendy's accounts and visits the Dawson plant regularly.

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