The City of Jacksonville said that people living there are pushing back on David’s Burgers proposed meat processing plant.
“I think a lot of people think this is going to be a big giant Tyson facility. If that was the case, they wouldn’t of had any support from us,” Robert Birch, the city’s director of Economic Development, said.
He adds that people do not know about the specific details of David’s Burgers Meat and Pet Food Processing Plant, including its location.
“Address will change to Southeastern once it’s done,” Birch said.
Right now, the address takes you to Military Road. According to Birch, the actual facility will be built further back on the property more than 80 acres away from the road, far from any school or house.
“This is nothing but farmland,” he said.
As for the physical building, Birch said it will be 6,700 square feet, fully enclosed and refrigerated so there won’t be a smell. On the outside, Birch said, it will operate like a farm with about 50 cattle on the property and eventually open it up to kids and families for an agricultural visitation space.
“It’ll be a nice, clean facility,” Birch said.
For now, he said, the city signed off on a Letter of Support, sending the plan to the next stage, which is public comment with the Pulaski County Government. While the project sits next to city limits, Birch believes it will ultimately be good for the city.
“We’ve had some successes with a couple of industries coming in… this is a neat project,” he said.
The piece of land off Military Road, Birch said, will be owned by David’s Burgers, which plans to use it for commercial space. The project is also a more than $2 million investment.
There’s a town hall Thursday, September 17th at 7 p.m. at Evangelistic Ministries Church. Then Tuesday, September 22nd, at 5 p.m. at the Pulaski County building in downtown Little Rock.