Simmons Foods

The company was founded in 1949 by founder M.H. Bill Simmons.[1][2]

It has American operations in Siloam Springs, Arkansas; Emporia, Kansas; Pennsauken, New Jersey; Decatur, Arkansas; Van Buren, Arkansas; Fort Smith, Arkansas; and Canadian operations in Mississauga, Ontario.[3]

In August 2010, the Simmons Pet Food division bought out Menu Foods for $239 million.[4][5]

Todd Simmons is the CEO and Vice Chairman of Simmons Foods, Inc. & Affiliates.[6] He began working at Simmons in 1990 was promoted to Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman in December 2012.[7] He was installed as 2015-2016 chairman of the National Chicken Council (NCC) during NCC’s 61st Annual Conference.[8] In 2015, the Poultry Federation of Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma named him 2015 Industry Leader of the Year during the 56th Annual Poultry Festival.[9] In 2016, he was selected as one of 10 local business leaders in the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal’s “C-Suite Awards.”[10]

Mark Simmons is the Chairman of Simmons Foods, Inc. & Affiliates. He has been chairman since 1987. He first joined Simmons in 1968 after graduating from the University of Arkansas. He was named president in 1974 following the death of his father, M.H. “Bill” Simmons, president and founder of Simmons Foods.[11] He was a founding member of the Northwest Arkansas Council, serves on the board of trustees at John Brown University, and is a board member of the Walton Family Charitable Support Trust. He was named Man of the Year in 1990 by the Arkansas Poultry Federation, the 2009 regional Entrepreneur of the Year in the agri-business category by Ernst & Young, received the Golden Paddle Award from the Illinois River Watershed Partnership, and was inducted in 2013 into the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the 29th Annual Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame in March 2017.[12]

On July 31, 2017, Simmons Feed Ingredients opened an ingredient production facility in Siloam Springs, AR. Since 2015, the company has invested an estimated $30 million in the facility where it will produce fresh and frozen meat ingredients for pet food manufacturers.[13]

On September 27, 2017, Simmons Prepared Foods announced it will build a new chicken facility in Benton County between Decatur and Gentry, Arkansas. The company plans to invest $300 million and the operation will create approximately 1,500 jobs. Operations are expected to begin in 2019.[14]

On November 1, 2017, Simmons Pet Food announced a facility expansion in Emporia, Kansas. The $38 million investment will increase operations by 200,000 square feet and create approximately 100 new jobs in the Emporia area. Operations are expected to begin in 2019.[15]

Since 1979, the M.H. "Bill" Simmons Scholarship Program has been providing financial educational assistance to the children of Simmons Foods team members.

The program has reached several milestones in its 40th year [2019], providing a combined total of more than $1.1 million in college and vocational scholarships to over 1,000 students, according to a press release from the company. In 2019, the scholarship program awarded $134,000 in scholarships to 72 recipients. [16]

On November 1, 2017, the ACLU of Oklahoma named Simmons and several other companies in a class action lawsuit on behalf of past participants at the Drug and Alcohol Recovery Program facilities in Tahlequah, Oklahoma and Decatur, Arkansas.[17] The filing asserts that Simmons knowingly benefited from human trafficking and other labor violations. The filing is consistent with investigative journalism work conducted by Reveal, part of the Centers for Investigative Reporting, and the Oklahoman. The Oklahoman specifically mentioned Simmons Food as a place where program participants were being sent,[18] and Reveal's investigation into the labor conditions have alleged that Simmons has become so reliant on this forced labor that their plants would shut down if men from these programs did not show up.[19] The ACLU has also filed suit against Simmons in Arkansas regarding similar allegations.[20] On January 11, 2018, all claims against Simmons were voluntarily dismissed.[21]