Mountaire Farms will spend $8.5 million to expand its hatchery operation near Millsboro, Delaware, to increase production of baby chicks from 750,000 to 1.8 million each week, according to a report on www.delawareonline.com, a Gannett Company. The 23,000-square-foot addition to an existing 65,000-square foot hatchery has begun and is slated to be completed in October, said Mike Tirrell, Mountaire’s vice president of human resources and business services. Chicks hatched at the facility will be delivered to about 300 farms, Tirrell said, and four production jobs will be added at the expanded hatchery.
The hatchery project is being aided by a $255,000 grant from the Delaware Strategic Fund. The hatchery expansion “will eliminate the need for bringing chicks in from North Carolina and Maryland. It will be taking vehicles off the highways, there will be less pollution, it’s healthier for the chicks because they are not being transported, and it’s a win for the agriculture industry, the environment, and a win for Delaware, keep the economy going here, creating jobs,” said Alan B. Levin, director of the Delaware Economic Development Office.
