Founded in Arkansas, Tyson Foods is the second-largest food production company on the Fortune 500 list. Through its subsidiaries, the company operates facilities in 20 Arkansas communities, including several in Metro Little Rock.

With a workforce of 1,500 across multiple plants, Tyson is one of Metro Little Rock’s largest food processing employers. The company’s facilities in Metro Little Rock include a $40 million processing plant in Pine Bluff focused on fresh and frozen poultry products. The processing plant is a tenant of the Jefferson Industrial Park, a 785-acre industrial park located inside Pine Bluff city limits.

Tyson employs 200 workers at its plant in North Little Rock, which celebrated 50 years of continuous operation in 2018. The plant began operating in 1968 as Prospect Farms, Inc. Tyson acquired the company, and with it the 76,000-square foot facility, in 1969 and it became a cornerstone of its poultry business. Much of the chicken processed at the plant is grown in Arkansas by farmers who contract with Tyson Foods.