Controversy Over Proposed Chicken Plant In Nash County

Some Nash County residents are fighting to stop a chicken processing plant from coming to their area.

Gurnal Scott: Sanderson Farms already has a presence in Kinston.  Now it wants to bring a large poultry plant to Nash County. The Carolinas Gateway Partnership -- an economic development group -- is helping Sanderson. Partnership C-E-O John Gessaman says the company wants to go beyond its employment promise

John Gessaman: Not just the 11-hundred people at Sanderson Farms but a total of 24-hundred jobs coming in over the next 10 years.


The Nash County Landowners Association has opposed the move for the last two years. Co-chairman Con Ward says the plant will bring environmental pollution.

Con Ward: These kind of industries go after these weaker communities with high unemployment and say they've got the magic bullet as a solution.


Nash County's 12-point-4 percent unemployment rat is among the state highest.