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On Monday, the City of Valley and Chambers County Development Authority announced that work on the new John Soules Foods facility has started.

John Soules Foods also announced Adam White will be the location’s maintenance manager for the location, which will be off Towel Ave.

“We are pleased to have Adam join the team,” Chief Operation Officer of John Soules Foods Tom Ellis said in a press release. “Adam brings valuable experience and proven ability to lead our Valley operations for years to come.”

White has been working with the CCDA and city of Valley to coordinate logistics of the construction during the COVID-19 outbreak.

John Soules Foods has three phases planned for the Valley operation. The first phase provides 210 full-time jobs and $90 million in capital investment, which will cover renovations at the current facility, construction of additional buildings on-site, wastewater treatment and placement of two cook lines.

Construction is expected to take roughly 13 months, with operations beginning in the summer of 2021. Baston Cook was awarded the first contract for the phase.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to be working with John Soules Foods and appreciate their commitment to investing in our local economy,” Baston-Cook’s senior Vice President and General Manager Paul Meadows said.

Phase two is roughly a $39 million investment, which will add two more cook lines and 200 new full-time employees. Phase three provides 100 new employees, $22 million capital investment and a fifth and final cook line.

At the end of the third phase, the Valley facility would produce more than 200 million pounds of cooked beef and chicken products annually.

John Soules Foods is the nation’s leading formulator of ready-to-cook beef and chicken products. The company is based out of Tyler, Texas and has a facility in Gainesville, Georgia.