It’s been right at a year since the Franklin County Development Authority and Mar-Jac Poultry announced the construction of a $25 million feed mill planned for Spruce Pine. Site work has begun at the future home of Mar-Jac – which has grown to represent closer to a $34 million investment – on Scharnagle Road in Spruce Pine, and project manager Keith Martin said the company is looking at a late summer 2017 completion date.

Contractors are bringing the property to grade to match the mainline rail track. Foundation work for the company, which will be rated at 10,000 tons production per week, will begin in a few weeks.

Martin said although permitting has delayed the project somewhat, Mar-Jac has had nothing but positive interactions with local authorities, including Probate Judge Barry Moore and the Franklin County Commission as well as Mitch Mays with the Franklin County Development Authority, who “has been fundamental in helping us with this,” Martin said.

Martin said the scope of this project is unmatched by anything else he has worked on in his career.

“It’s one of the most exciting things I have ever done,” Martin said.

Mar-Jac Poultry is a fully-integrated poultry production company, headquartered in Gainesville, Ga., and founded in 1954.