USA — Animal proteins company, Koch Foods is seeking a greater share of the US poultry market with new plans to expand its processing facility in Gainesville, Florida.  

Documents provided to the City of Gainesville showed that the company plans to build a 170,000 to 183,000-square-foot facility adjacent to its existing plant. 

The new plant will include 96,000 square feet for poultry processing and deboning, 62,826 square feet of freezer space, and 24,000 square feet of office space. 

The facility will also have 16 truck bays and docking, 50 parking spaces for trailer parking, and 234 parking spaces for employees and visitors. 

Koch Foods’ current facility in Gainesville is 74,000 square feet and was built in the 1960s. The company purchased that facility in 2002 and will close it once the new building is complete. 

Fairfield project receives a boost 

Meanwhile, The Butler County Port Authority Board has approved a sales tax incentive worth as much as US$3.4 million for Koch Food’s new facility Fairfield. 

In approving the tax incentive, the Board noted that the hundreds of jobs that the new site will create trump a federal indictment the company is facing. 

Koch Foods is the county’s 12th largest employer and plans to grow its employee count by 400 throughout three years with a project that will add a 400,000-square-foot facility at the campus on Port Union Road. 

The company is making a US$220 million investment in the community including construction and machinery.  

Koch Foods’ Kaminsky to chair National Chicken Council 

Earlier, Mark Kaminsky, chief operating officer of Koch Foods, was installed as 2021-2022 chairman of the National Chicken Council (NCC). 

This is Kaminsky’s second term as NCC chairman, having previously served as the organization chair in the 2018-2019 term. 

Kaminsky started his career at Arthur Andersen after receiving his bachelor’s degree in Accounting at DePaul University. 

 He began his career with Koch Foods in 1990 on the financial side of the business but learned the operational side, including live processing through Koch’s move to become a vertically integrated poultry company in 1996.  

He has assisted in Koch’s growth from a one-plant operation to one of the leading poultry companies in the United States, through acquisitions, greenfield site developments, and internal expansion. 

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