Jul. 30—Hunt County is still expected to be the home of a state-of-the-art dairy plant just west of Greenville, but it just won't happen soon.

HP Hood LLC still intends to invest $360 million and create hundreds of jobs by building the plant, but Greenville Board of Development CEO Greg Sims says the company is not in a hurry.

"The company has completed and purchased 321 acres for the proposed project," Sims said of the site at the intersection of State Hwy. 66 and CR 2100. Tax abatement agreements have been reached with the City of Greenville, Hunt County and the school district, but previously announced plans to begin construction during the second quarter of 2024, with commercial operations starting in the fourth quarter of 2025, might be a bit optimistic.

"Hood is concerned about the downturn of the current economy and a possible recession," Sims said. "They have delayed their Texas project, which is the one in Greenville, for approximately three to five years."

Adjusted for inflation, U.S. gross domestic product, fell 0.2% in the second quarter, the Commerce Department reported on Thursday. That decline followed a contraction of 0.4% for the first three months of the year. The report also noted slowdowns in consumer spending, home construction and business construction.

Still, Sims insists the plant is still coming.

"They have not pulled out, they have just delayed it," he said.

HP Hood has proposed building a state-of-the-art manufacturing plant to process extended shelf life dairy and plant-based beverages. The proposed 350,000-square-foot dairy facility would occupy separate buildings for labs, research and administrative offices; milk receiving and processing; product packaging; and warehousing, according to the application.

In its initial phase, the dairy would employ an estimated 225 people, and up to 400 in the future, according to a tax abatement application on file with the Comptroller's Office. The company estimates spending $360 million on the project's initial phase.

The plant lies just outside the city of Greenville's ETJ (extra territorial jurisdiction), an area that extends two miles out from the city limits in every direction.