PECO Foods celebrates decade in Northeast Arkansas

It’s been 10 years since PECO Foods began operations in Northeast Arkansas. The company spent $200 million to build a poultry processing plant in Pocahontas and a feed mill in Corning. The company employs more than 1,700 at those facilities and employs almost 3,100 statewide.

PECO has a network of more than 1,000 poultry houses throughout the region.

“As a fourth generation, family-owned company, we are proud to have called Arkansas home for the last decade,” said Peco Foods Pocahontas complex plant manager Brad Shelton. “At PECO we know our people are the reason we have thrived for nearly a century and our Arkansas team members are a vital part of that success.”

PECO Foods was founded in 1937, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The company operates in Arkansas, Alabama, and Mississippi. Since it started operations a decade ago in the Natural State, it has become the fourth largest manufacturer employee in Arkansas, according to the company.

According to the latest Census of Agriculture, poultry and egg sales in Randolph County exceed $251 million annually, meaning it’s in the top 3% of all counties in terms of poultry production in the country.

The company is the seventh-largest poultry producer in the United States, with more than 7,500 team employees across 12 locations. In 2025, Peco opened a new training center in Batesville.

“PECO Foods has been one of the most significant economic development investments in Northeast Arkansas over the past decade,” said Northeast Arkansas Regional Intermodal Authority Executive Director Graycen Bigger. “Their commitment to our region has created opportunities for thousands of families and strengthened and diversified our agricultural sector.”