Pilgrims Pride to close Dalton plant

In Dalton, a chicken processing plant employing 280 people will close in the next sixty days.

Pilgram's Pride has been having financial difficulties for the past year and even filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in December. And in a statement on Monday, CEO Don Jackson said the Texas based
poultry producer will "continue to look for opportunities to improve our cost structure as we reorganize the company."

Part of that means shutting down the Dalton Plant. Those operations will be consolidated with another plant in Chattanooga. If there's any good news, it's that the comapny's
Cohutta Georgia hatchery will stay open.

Over the past year and a half, the Dalton area has seen a string of plant closings or consolidations. Unemployment in the area is currently at just under twelve percent, according to the state department of labor.