Official: Crider mulls move to South Carolina

Commissioner says Lincoln County chicken-processing facility destroyed by fire is considering relocation

Web posted September 11, 1999

From Staff Reports

Crider Inc.'s chicken-processing plant, once the largest employer in Lincoln County, could reopen in South Carolina, according to one county official.

Tommy Drew, chairman of Lincoln County Commission, said he heard Friday morning that the plant, destroyed by fire Aug. 18, may be moving to Newberry. However, he said nothing has been officially confirmed. Calls to the company's headquarters in Stillmore, Ga., were not returned, and plant managers could not be reached for comment.

In July, one month before the fire, Lincoln County's unemployment rate hit 11.1 percent, one of the highest in the state. Mr. Drew estimated that out of the 200 jobs lost because of the fire, 120 belonged to Lincoln County residents.

Officials are now working to bring a resort complex to the area to ease the economic crunch. The planned $30 million project would include a conference center with a 175-room hotel, 18-hole golf course and 15,000 square feet of conference space. It will encompass about 350 acres of state-owned land and 150 acres of private property. It is slated to bring 260 full-time and 180 part-time jobs to the area.

On Thursday, Erik Smitt, general manager of the Lincoln County plant, said no decision has been made about relocation. But Mr. Drew said a letter he received from the company and phone conversations had left him unsure whether the company would rebuild.

Crider Inc. was one of two poultry plants owned and operated by W.A. Crider Jr. The Lincoln County facility had been in operation for 13 years, reopening after a shutdown in the early 1980s. The company had become a major part of the community.