LITTLE ROCK, Ark.—Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. is cutting 600 jobs from its El Dorado poultry operation, but the company will keep its facilities open and continue to provide chicken to the firm’s processed foods plants elsewhere.

Pilgrim’s Pride will consolidate its tray-pack chicken business from its El Dorado processing plant into six other facilities. The move will cut 600 jobs by Sept. 19, half of those who work at the El Dorado plant. Pilgrim’s Pride employs about another 400 people at its feed mill, hatchery and among its area contract growers.

Local officials said they had worked with Pilgrim’s Pride for months to try to avert the layoffs but that they could not do enough. Mayor Mike Dumas said the plant employs workers from a multi-county area, including some north Louisiana parishes.

“We have a diversified economic base,” Dumas said. “It’ll hurt but it’s not going to kill us.”

The processing plant will be converted to a supply plant, which will send fresh chicken in bulk to plants that produce prepared foods, Pilgrim’s Pride spokesman Ray Atkinson said Tuesday.

“The process requires less labor,” Atkinson said. The company also said the union at the plant turned down a proposed benefit reduction, which contributed to the jobs cut.

Pilgrim’s Pride, based in Pittsburg, Texas, also plans within 60 days to close a distribution center in El Paso, Texas. The facility employs about 34 workers.

The company said in April the El Dorado plant was being reviewed as a target for possible consolidation or closing.

“It’s unfortunate that we lose those 600 jobs, but we understand that to run a business, you have to be competitive,” said Don Wells, president and CEO of the El Dorado Chamber of Commerce.

The city lowered water rates for Pilgrim’s Pride and the state agreed to provide some worker training, so the plant would have workers who are better trained.

The company said it would assist workers but Dumas said Tuesday he wasn’t particularly optimistic about the workers finding work in the area.

“It’ll be difficult for those 600 to find a job because of their low level of skill. The timber industry is in the tank because the housing market is down. There are really no other poultry processing (plants) within 35-40 miles. Regardless of where you are, it’s difficult for those 600 to find a job. I feel for them,” Dumas said.