Council voted at second August meeting to authorize tax breaks for proposed project at former Southern Pride
Greensboro City Council voted at its Aug. 27 meeting to approve a resolution authorizing sales-and-use tax abatements for the redevelopment of the long-idle catfish processing facility on Highway 69 that once housed Southern Pride Catfish.
A tax abatement is a timelimited waiver of certain non-education city or county taxes on new investments. Existing taxes still continue, and when the abatement term ends the facility is taxed at full value. Such tax breaks are often used by cities and counties to recruit industry with the promise of a period of favorable tax treatment in exchange for locating in a particular community.
At its peak, the Highway 69 facility was one of the largest catfish processing plants in the country. Through a number of transactions, the plant’s ownership eventually passed to Mississippi-based processor Heartland Catfish. Over the years, Heartland reduced processing operations at the facility in favor of expanding its Itta Bena, Miss. plant. The Greensboro facility, which had by that time become strictly a repacking facility, finally closed for good in 2020.
The Council’s recent resolution, No. 2025-10, identifies the effort to reopen the plant by the code name “Project Whisker,” and authorizes the Industrial Development Board of Hale County to act as the granting authority under Section 40- 9B-1, et seq., Code of Alabama 1975.
According to information presented to city leaders before their vote in August, the company pursuing the project, Alabama Catfish, LLC, is evaluating a multi-phase investment at the former Southern Pride site north of downtown.
Phase one would reportedly begin by locating certain office operations in Greensboro and the use of the property as a hub for shipping and additional storage. A second phase would expand storage operations and potentially add jobs. If those phases meet targets, a third phase would follow; job estimates for that step have not been released. In city discussions, the longterm employment potential has been described as reaching hundreds of jobs if the full program is realized. City officials have indicated that existing water and sewer infrastructure can support the contemplated use.
Alabama Catfish, LLC, which operates the Harvest Select processing plant in Uniontown, was formed on June 27, 2008 in Tuscaloosa County when the former Alabama Catfish, Inc. was merged into the newly-organized limited liability company. Its registered office is 1550 McFarland Blvd. North in Tuscaloosa, the same building used by Bryant Bank for its headquarters.
Corporate records filed at the 2008 formation listed the LLC’s members as Greene Group, Inc.; the Clarence R. Lawson Jr. Family Partnership; C. R. Lawson Jr.; Smelley Farms, LLC; and Thomas R. “Randy” Rhodes.
Greene Group is a holding company whose principal owner is Paul Bryant, Jr., founder of Bryant Bank and the son of legendary University of Alabama head coach Paul “Bear” Bryant. Bryant was an early investor in the Black Belt catfish industry and, through Greene Group, owns extensive aquaculture property and other farmland in the area of Uniontown and south Hale county.
