Under the agreements, according to the Wilkes Journal Patriot, Tyson's average weekly production must increase to at least 7.2 million pounds, from 5.5 million pounds, in the company's fourth quarter, or July 1 to Sept. 30.

A Tyson manager was quoted as saying the plant currently processes 1.4 million chickens per week, down from an earlier weekly volume of 1.95 million birds.

Wilkes County agreed to pay $50,000 on Oct. 31 or within 30 days after Tyson paid its taxes. Wilkesboro agreed to pay $17,000 by Oct. 31 or within 10 days after Tyson paid its taxes, according to the newspaper.

In late January, Tyson stopped production on a processing line for birds weighing an average of 4 pounds amid a reconfiguration to process birds with an average weight of 6 pounds.

A little help

The slowdown's impact on the local economy was significant. Tyson, for example, accounts for nearly 60 percent of capacity of Wilkesboro's water and wastewater treatment plants, and is both the largest employer and taxpayer in Wilkes County.

The Tyson manager, Mark Welborn, explained the company's decision to reduce the number of chickens processed and why it asked the local governments for help. "At that time," he said, "we were experiencing some pretty heavy losses as a poultry company and in the industry as a whole.

"Our goal is not to go back to the number of birds processed but an equal number of pounds that we were processing before," he added. "Since fixed costs are the same during the transition, we were looking for help."