Employers
Amick Farms, a poultry processor in Batesburg, South Carolina, plans to build a new hatchery in the Edgefield County town of Trenton and create 40 jobs there, the South Carolina Department of Commerce announced Wednesday, Oct. 28. The company said it will invest $54.78 million in the project.
The 40 positions are planned jobs at a facility that does not yet operate. According to the state, operations are expected to come online in April 2027. The announcement did not describe the roles, pay levels or hiring schedule.
Capacity is not headcount
The release says the Trenton hatchery “will have the capacity to hatch over 1.5 million eggs.” That figure describes the plant’s production capacity, not its workforce, and the state did not say whether it refers to a week, a year or another period. The employment commitment tied to the project is 40 jobs.
The investment is large relative to the headcount: $54.78 million spread across 40 planned positions works out to roughly $1.37 million per job. On its website, Amick Farms explains that eggs from its breeder farms are inspected, cleaned and taken to its hatcheries, where they are placed in warm incubators for 21 days until the chicks hatch. The chicks are then transported to the company’s family farm partners, who raise them.
The state said the new hatchery will support the growth of the company’s South Carolina poultry processing operations. It did not say whether processing employment will rise as a result, and no such jobs were included in the announcement.
Who the employer is
Founded in 1941, Amick Farms is a fully integrated operation with hatcheries, feed mills and processing facilities that supplies chicken products for retail, food service and industrial use, according to the Commerce Department. The company has four existing complexes: two in Saluda County, one in Laurel, Mississippi, and one in Hurlock, Maryland. The Trenton hatchery would extend its South Carolina footprint into Edgefield County.
The state’s Coordinating Council for Economic Development awarded a $1 million Set-Aside grant to Edgefield County to help pay for site preparation and building construction. The grant goes to the county rather than directly to the company. No other incentives were described.
What officials said
Commissioner of Agriculture Hugh Weathers said, “Poultry is South Carolina’s highest value agricultural product,” and described the expansion as supporting a broad swath of the state’s agribusiness community, from corn and soybean growers to equipment manufacturers to the farmers who raise chickens. Gov. Henry McMaster said the state is proud to see the company “bring 40 new jobs to Edgefield County.”
Edgefield County Council Chairman Dean Campbell said the county “continues to provide an agile and ready workforce.” Richard Pendarvis, chairman of the Western South Carolina Economic Development Partnership, called the project a significant commitment to the county that strengthens the region’s agricultural and food processing industries.
Those statements describe expected benefits across the supply chain. They are not job counts, and the only employment number in the announcement is the 40 positions at the hatchery itself.
What it means for Edgefield County workers
For job seekers in Edgefield County and the surrounding area, the project adds a new agricultural employer with a target start about six months away. The state directed people interested in working for the company to the Amick Farms careers page, but it released no job titles, wage information or hiring dates.
The announcement came the same day the Commerce Department announced a $29.5 million Brose Sitech seat plant in Richland County with 330 planned jobs, a reminder that headcount and investment do not move together. Amick’s project is the larger investment of the two but carries about one-eighth of the jobs.
Key details remain open: the period behind the 1.5 million-egg capacity figure, the mix of roles at the hatchery, wages, and whether the project will lead to additional hiring at the company’s processing operations. Until the hatchery opens, the 40 jobs remain a company commitment rather than positions on a payroll.
Sources
- South Carolina Department of Commerce, “Amick Farms expands South Carolina footprint with new Edgefield County operations,” October 28, 2026. https://www.sccommerce.com/newsroom/amick-farms-expands-south-carolina-footprint-new-edgefield-county-operations
- Amick Farms, “Farms,” accessed October 29, 2026. https://www.amickfarms.com/farms/
Featured photo: Young broiler chicks in a commercial poultry house, in an image dated Aug. 31, 2015; location not stated. Representative image; not Amick Farms' operations or its planned hatchery in Trenton, S.C. Photo: Ibgroup2018, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Cropped from the original.
