Mass layoff in Phenix City comes seven months after company’s $2.8 million investment

A Phenix City poultry plant has announced a mass layoff.

AlaTrade Foods’ plant at 6 Downing Drive in Phenix City filed a notice to the Alabama Department of Commerce saying the company is laying off 165 employees, effective from March 28, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN). No reason for the layoffs was noted.

The decision comes after AlaTrade announced in September 2024 the company would be investing $2.8 million into a new chicken paw heat treating project at the facility. The project’s goal was to “tap into the burgeoning international market for chicken paws, particularly in China,” AlaTrade said in its news release.

AlaTrade Foods is based in Boaz, Alabama, and processes more than 400 million pounds of chicken annually, according to its website. This is one of the company’s three plant locations, with the others in Albertville and Boaz. AlaTrade provides jobs for about 1,800 people, its website says.

The Phenix City Economic Development Office website lists AlaTrade with 650 employees in the region.

AlaTrade’s management did not respond to the Ledger-Enquirer’s requests for comment.

Phenix City Mayor Eddie Lowe expressed his sympathy for employees affected by the layoffs.

“You always hate emphatically that people do not have a job,” Lowe said. “As far as the city goes, it’s our responsibility to make sure that we continue to care about people.”

The L-E didn’t reach Phenix City economic development manager Shaun Culligan for comment.

This story was originally published April 9, 2025 at 6:00 AM.