COLUMBIA, S.C. — Tyson Foods has announced it will be closing the company's Bluff Road location in Richland County after the first of the year.
Workers were given their 60-day notice on Nov. 8 that the facility at 1970 Bluff Road would be shut down on Jan. 8, 2024.
A Tyson Foods spokesperson said in a statement, “We are making the difficult decision to close two of our Case Ready Value-Added plants. We understand the impact of this decision on our team members. We will make every effort to offer them opportunities to remain with the company at other locations and will partner with state and local officials to provide additional resources. With a focus on optimizing our operational footprint, we are reallocating resources to operate as efficiently as possible, while maintaining ample capacity to serve our customers.”
Another facility closing is in Jacksonville, Florida.
In March 2021, WLTX reported that Tyson Foods was investing a total of $55 million over three to five years for an expansion of the Bluff Road site, transforming the location into a meat portioning and packing operation. The 2021 reinvestment and reopening was to double the workforce to 330 people. That 2021 announcement came after Tyson closed the plant in August 2020, laying off 150 workers.
The Bluff Road facility was the only Tyson Foods production site in South Carolina. The company still operates five facilities in North Carolina and four in Georgia.