DOUGLAS, GA. — Pilgrim's Pride plans to hire as many as 1,400 local workers and invest $30 million to re-open its idled Coffee County chicken processing complex in Douglas, Ga., by January, according to The Associated Press.

On May 26, company executives joined dignitaries and local politicians to commemorate the re-opening of the plant, which is expected to process about 1.3 million chickens a week by next summer. The plant's presence in the region affects more than 3,700 jobs in Georgia, through employment at its hatcheries, feed mills, trucking operations and at the processing plant.