Multiple food processing manufacturers have visited Monterey’s former Perdue Plant, interested in purchasing the facility.
Highlands Economic Partnership Vice President Adam Poe said of all the visits so far, none of them have converted into a legit opportunity. Poe said the Cookeville-Putnam County Chamber of Commerce is still unsure why the manufacturers have not further inquired about the facility.
“The majority of them have been a pop in pop out and just no continued conversation after that,” Poe said. “It’s certainly a question that has been asked, we just haven’t gotten that answer.”
Perdue closed the plant because of costly upgrades needed at the facility. It is not known if that might be impacting interest. Poe said already-constructed plants do not become available very often. Poe said the chamber is still early in the process and that they have not hit the panic button just yet.
“It was really kind of bookended by a pretty hard time deadline,” Poe said. “If you look at a typical timeframe of being able to source a business and have them either expand or relocate to a facility, typically that’s over a year and a half or a two-year period, and we were trying to fill this within a month, right, so it is going well especially for the amount of interest that we have had within the first month. We just need to be able to find the correct fit for that building and the correct fit for our community.”
Poe said the chamber has hired a commercial broker to help with the process of filling the plant.
“There are commercial brokers that specialize by industry, and so there are groups out there that specifically operate to find future homes for businesses that are looking to expand,” Poe said. “So there are multiple brokers out there that have shown interest, and we have been able to have a really good working relationship with one of them, and that has been the source of every visit that has taken place at Perdue.”
The Perdue Plant officially closed last month.
