MOOREFIELD, W.Va. — A lack of housing has created a dilemma for one national brand with operations in Hardy County. Pilgrims Pride on Wednesday unveiled the first 12 units of an apartment comlex which will be almost exclusively for company employees in Moorefield.
“Around our region, we’re short on residency and this will help with the housing needs. It supports economic growth and our community stability,” said Tim Cullers, Housing Manager for Pilgrims Pride.
The first unit includes a dozen two-bedroom apartments with a new daycare center for employees’ children on the ground floor. Cullers said the childcare issue is another big obstacle for them in hiring.
“We support Teddy Bear daycare in Petersburg and we have Peeps Daycare here in Moorefield and they are both full. This will give us more places for children which will open up some of those other sites for other children who work at different places,” he explained.
The company has been trying to combat the housing issue by securing privately owned rental property, but Cullers said by doing so they they were catching the blame from locals about tying up all of the available rental units in the region. He said by building their own, they can free up those other much needed units for the rest of the general public. According to Cullers another section of the housing project will be another 30 apartments which should become available in June or July and by the time all of the construction is completed, they’ll have 150 two and three bedroom apartments for rent to their employees.
To satisfy employment needs the company is often forced to bring in workers from out-of-state and they need a place to stay. The Pilgrims plant processes more than two Million chickens a week and has more than 400 additional employees at a second packaged food plant in the town.
“We’ve used up most of our local help and we’ve gotten bigger over time. Now we have folks coming in from outside and it’s a perk to live here. It helps us get them located closer and quicker,” he explained.
It’s not unique to the West Virginia operation. According to Cullers at least one other Pilgrim’s operation in Texas has employee housing on site and the parent company JBS has several such facilities at its pork and beef processing centers around the country.