National Beef Packing Co. has announced it will add more than 200 workers to its processing plant in Moultrie, Ga. The expansion will almost double the facility’s workforce, reports the Moultrie Observer.

Gov. Nathan Deal, whose office announced Wednesday afternoon the expansion of National Beef Packing Co., in Moultrie, also announced that the company will be investing $9 million as well as adding the new hires. The announcement came almost two and a half years after the company cut 283 jobs. That blow came after National Beef lost its largest contract with retail giant Wal-Mart in October 2012.

Terry Wilkerson, National Beef chief operating officer, said that the employees in the area were one of the reasons the company picked Moultrie for the expansion.

“We have one of the finest work forces here in Moultrie, Georgia,” he said during the ceremony. “I would stack our employees here against any food processing employees anywhere in the country. You have passion, you have pride, you create quality work.”

Source: Moultrie Observer