Monday, October 13, 2014

Interview With Dr. Edward Fryar Of Ozark Mountain Poultry


Gregg Reep of salineriverchronicle.com's staff recently interviewed Dr. Ed Fryar, CEO of Ozark Mountain Poultry.  The interview took place in the offices of the new OMP plant in Warren.  It was conducted October 3rd, the day the plant began operations and the day of the official ribbon cutting.

Dr. Fryar stated that OMP began as a company in 2001.  The firm started out with a small facility in Rogers, Arkansas with 25 employees.  They began by working as a contract processor for a major poultry producer located in Northwest Arkansas.  As the firm grew it expanded into producing it's own brand of healthy poultry.  OMP now has plants in Rogers and Batesville.  They specialize in raising and processing chickens without the use of antibiotics.  According to Dr. Fryar,  people do not give regular doses of medicine to their children and only medicate them if they become sick.  The company believes the same should be true for poultry and the result is a more healthy product for human consummation.

Dr. Fryar was born in western Arkansas.  He received his bachelor and masters degrees from the University of Arkansas and holds a PhD. in Agri-Economics from the University of Minnesota.  He worked for the United States Department of Agriculture and then taught and conducted research for the University of Arkansas for 13 years.  He formed OMP as a private firm and believes in sustainability in any economic endeavor undertaken.  He said that a company consist of the people who do the work and not the buildings and equipment.

SRC asked Dr. Fryar why OMP choose Warren to expand its business.  He stated that the company needed to grow and Jeff Coffman, the local Facilites Manager, was a friend who had once worked for OMP.  He referred to Mr. Coffman as a "rainmaker" a person who can get things done and knows how to do many things.  Jeff approached the company and after detailed negotiations a deal was worked out.  The Warren plant made sense and the availability of a workforce was appealing.

According to Dr, Fryar, OMP is proud to be in Warren.  He said the city and the people have been supportive and helpful and he looks forward to a bright furure in Warren.  Dr. Fryar furthermore expressed his thanks to Warren Mayor Bryan Martin for being aggressive and supportive in recruiting OMP to Warren.

Dr, Fryar made some of the same comments to SRC that he was to make in public later and stated that Lumberjacks had a special place in his heart since his grandfather had literally been a lumberjack in the timber industry.  He predicted a Warren win in football later Friday evening and his prediction came true.

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