Patti Dozier/Times-EnterpriseTim Sanders (foreground), Thomasville city attorney, and Steve Sykes, city manager, listen as Shelley Zorn addresses city council about a food-processing industry looking at Thomasville as a site for a new plant.

THOMASVILLE — A food-processing plant that eventually could employ more than 400 is looking at Thomasville as a site for a new plant.

The Thomasville Payroll Development Authority (PDA) recommended to Thomasville City Council that city economic development funds be used the purchase the old Caterpillar plant building for $3.3 million. The PDA would use the money to purchase the 100 Caterpillar Way building and lease it to the potential industry.

Shelley Zorn, PDA executive director, met with the council in a workshop prior to the council meeting at which the vote was taken. She said the PDA met Monday and “strongly recommended” that the city provide money for the purchase.

The company makes mayonnaise, dressings and sauces for chain restaurants. The business — with a code name of Project Knight — has 14 plants in the United States and four in Canada.

Mayor pro tem Don Sims, who also is PDA chairman, made the motion to use city funds to purchase the building. Sims and council members Jay Flowers, Terry Scott and Max Beverly voted in favor. Mayor Greg Hobbs did not vote.

During the workshop, the mayor said that if the potential industry does not choose Thomasville, the city would be left with a building that needs improvements.

Zorn responded that she does not think Caterpillar would want to deal with locals again if the city did not provide funding now. She added that the structure could be sold for use as a warehouse and provide no jobs.

“There’s a return on investment here,” Zorn said.

Said the mayor, “I’m having a hard time.”

A “hard time” is securing jobs for Southwest Georgia, said Sims, retired longtime Thomasville-Thomas County Chamber of Commerce president.

“If you don’t take a risk, there’s no way you can get ahead,” Sims said. 

The 168,000-square-foot Caterpillar building is appraised at $8.1 million.

The company, if it locates in Thomasville, is expected to provide 150 jobs initially and a total of 411 in two years. About 85 percent of the jobs would be production positions averaging $18.45 an hour, Zorn told the Times-Enterprise. The remainder of the positions would be in management.

If the Thomasville site is chosen, the company would spend $83 million on improvements, including purchasing adjacent property, building another structure and connecting to a nearby rail line.

Sims said that if the industry does not come to Thomasville, the building is an excellent investment to have for other businesses looking at Thomasville.

Council member Max Beverly pointed out that not only would the company provide hundreds of jobs but would use city utilities.

“It’s expensive, but I think it’s worth it to have some element of control of it,” Beverly told fellow council members.

Caterpillar spent $1 million annually on city utilities, said Steve Sykes, city manager/utilities superintendent. If the company being discussed comes here, it would be the city’s biggest natural gas and water user.

The company wanted an answer about the purchase by Friday and will make a decision in mid-July about a location.

Senior reporter Patti Dozier can be reached at (229) 226-2400, ext. 1820