America's Largest Turkey Producer Breaks Ground on New World Headquarters in North Carolina

08/10/07 Butterball, LLC, the nation's largest turkey producer, broke ground and revealed plans for its new corporate headquarters in Garner, N.C., outside Raleigh. In mid-2008, the company will move 70 corporate and management level employees from its current headquarters in Mt. Olive, N.C., into the $12 million, 46,000-square-foot facility.

Marking the first anniversary of Butterball, LLC, the new owner of the iconic brand of turkey, CEO Keith Shoemaker celebrated by digging a gleaming, commemorative Butterball garden trowel into a 6-foot Butterball turkey sandwich created by Firehouse Subs.

Butterball, LLC -- the new company formed in October 2006 after Carolina Turkeys' $325 million acquisition of the Butterball brand from ConAgra Foods -- evaluated locations throughout the country for its corporate headquarters to accommodate needs for additional space and easy access to an international airport.

"At Butterball, we pride ourselves on being a family-oriented business, working in hometown communities and delivering nutritious turkey products to dinner tables across this great country and around the world," Shoemaker said. "As we conducted our nationwide search for a new headquarters, we were thoroughly impressed by Garner, the 'Gateway to the Triangle' region. And we were impressed to learn that fast-growing Garner has not forgotten its roots as a hometown community, a great place to live, work and raise a family."

Butterball will maintain its strong presence in Mt. Olive, where it operates the largest turkey-processing plant in the world, a state-of-the-art, 65,000-square-foot facility employing more than 2,600 people. Butterball is the largest employer in Duplin County.

In Garner, the first of two phases of construction is scheduled for completion in mid-2008. The building will feature a high-tech Customer Experience Center, complete with a full-service, stainless steel kitchen, specifically designed to educate retail customers, to show the versatility of turkey and demonstrate different cooking applications. The building's interior will feature historical accents, such as old Butterball logos and framed advertisements dating back to the brand's inception in 1954.

At the groundbreaking ceremony, Shoemaker was joined by Garner Mayor Ronnie Williams, Neal Padgett, president of the Garner Chamber of Commerce, Craig Davis, the developer of Greenfield North, town leaders and a crowd of well-wishers.