Golden State Foods, Irvine, Calif., announced plans to build a new state-of-the-art meat processing facility in Opelika, Ala. The $40-45 million project is expected to create 173 new jobs.

“After careful consideration, we selected Opelika as the site for our new facility based on the strategic location along I-85, the available workforce and the atmosphere of industry and government cooperation,” says Wayne Morgan, corporate vice president, meat group.