Middle Georgia Technical College

MGTC nominated Perdue Farms Named Manufacturer of the Year

April 12 , 2007

Gov. Sonny Perdue presented Perry’s Perdue Farms with this year’s award for Manufacturer of the Year in the large company category (more than 750 employees). Perdue Farms joined Lawrenceville’s Ricoh Electronics and Rincon’s Temcor as the state’s top three manufacturers of the year.

The annual awards ceremony is the highlight of Georgia Manufacturing Appreciation Week, which is co-hosted by the Department of Technical and Adult Education and the Department of Economic Development. This year, more than 1,200 business leaders were in attendance at the ceremony held at the Cobb Galleria April 12.

Jim Perdue, chairman and CEO; Richard Jameson, complex manager; and Richard Rateau, director of operations, prepared foods, accepted the award.

“It was a great decision on our company’s part to come to Georgia,” said Perdue. “This facility is quickly becoming our flagship operation, and we’re in about 14 states.”

“We’re really not in the chicken business, we’re in the people business; we couldn’t do it without our associates,” Perdue added. “Quick Start has been a tremendous tool to help us get our associates fully trained before starting their jobs.”

In the past three years, Perdue Farms has invested more than $80 million in its plant in Perry, Ga., making it one of the most sophisticated facilities of its kind in the United States. In the process, Perdue has more than doubled its workforce to more than 2,500 employees who turn out more than 100 million pounds of product each year. And those employees helped earn Perdue’s Perry facility the honor of being named “Food Plant of the Year” by “Refrigerated & Frozen Foods” magazine.

Nothing speaks higher of Perdue Farms’ commitment to its employees than their safety record. Almost 4 million man hours without any lost time due to accidents is a hallmark of safety success, and that record is due to Perdue’s commitment to employee training. From the company’s long-standing relationship with Middle Georgia Technical College, to the workforce services provided by Quick Start, Perdue continues to focus on quality training to build a quality team.

In proclaiming April 9-13 Manufacturing Appreciation Week, Perdue noted the tremendous contribution manufacturing makes to the state’s economic well-being. Providing 450,622 jobs at more than 10,000 facilities across Georgia, manufacturing contributes more than $100 billion to the state’s economy each year.

DTAE Interim Commissioner Ron Jackson and Governor Sonny Perdue present Perdue Farms CEO Jim Perdue and other members of the Perdue Farms Corporation the award for Manufacturer of the Year in the large company category