Feb. 22—Bunge Corp.'s Decatur plant along the Tennessee River focuses on connecting farmers with consumers as it brings food and feed products from where they're grown to where they are needed, according to the plant's manager.

"At our fully integrated facility in Decatur we provide vital inks in the supply chain by sourcing soybeans from local farmers and processing them in our crush, refinery and packaging departments to produce vegetable oils and protein meals," said Plant Manager Victor Pacheco. "We produce soybean oil, soybean meal and several oil blends, and in turn these are used to produce animal feed (and) make cooking oils and plant-based proteins that are key ingredients for consumer and restaurant brands that are part of our day-to-day life."

He said most of the source soybeans come from local farmers, and the company partners with those farmers to help discover new markets for their products.

"We source their products and then we store, transport, process and refine it all at our facility," he said.

Pacheco said soybean meal and oils are shipped by barges along the Tennessee River and some of the company's products are transported by truck and rail.

Pacheco said the Decatur plant currently has about 220 employees with starting pay at $24 an hour.

"We're always looking for the best talent," he said. "Bunge is addressing some of the most important challenges facing the world today, and yet, we see these challenges as opportunities to make a difference in the industry."

Pacheco said Bunge is looking for employees who have an interest in manufacturing.

"What we do every day matters — to our teams and our communities. We want to work with people who see change as an opportunity to evolve, who enjoy taking ownership of work and making it their own," he said.

Large facility

"Our facility in Decatur is one of Bunge's largest plants in the world," he said.

According to the company's website, the Decatur location at 1500 Church St. S.E. includes an edible oil refinery, packaging and crush facilities. The 130,000-square-foot packaging arm of the Decatur refinery opened in April 2013. That facility added 48 jobs to the site's workforce. The website said Bunge purchased the Decatur facility in 1982 and built the edible oil refinery, which became operational in 1998.

Bunge has more than 60 locations across North America.

Jeremy Nails, president and CEO of the Morgan County Economic Development Association, said the county and region is "fortunate to have this global corporation in our community that supplies critical food products to consumers around the world."

"Bunge has invested millions in their Decatur facilities to remain competitive and maintain their employment levels," Nails said. "Their impact reaches beyond their existing manufacturing facilities. They provide a tremendous opportunity to support the farmers and suppliers in our region."

— mike.wetzel@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2442. Twitter @DD_Wetzel.