Georgia Governor Nathan Deal and other state and local officials broke ground recently for the state’s new Georgia Poultry Laboratory Network building in Hall County. The lab supports Georgia’s poultry industry by providing health monitoring and veterinary diagnostic services aimed at ensuring healthy flocks and safe poultry products for consumers.
The new $13.7 million facility will enable the lab to continue and expand its mission of poultry health, export certification, and food safety. The new facility will include 39,000 square feet of laboratory and office space on a 10-acre site in Hall County. The facility replaces an aging facility, also located in Hall County, that will eventually be re-purposed.
“The health of poultry flocks across Georgia has a critical importance,” Governor Nathan Deal said. “This new laboratory will play a key role in protecting the jobs of tens of thousands of Georgians and in sustaining this state’s annual $28 billion poultry industry.”
Georgia Poultry Federation President Mike Giles stated, “For decades, federation members have relied on the work of the Georgia Poultry Laboratory Network to ensure that the state’s chicken and egg producers have had a healthy foundation upon which to build their businesses and farms. With the new lab facility, the poultry industry in Georgia is poised to continue building on this foundation for decades to come. The federation has been fortunate to have the opportunity to work with so many great partners, at the state and local level, to get us to this point where the new lab is becoming a reality.”
