112-year-old Dothan fertilizer plant ceases production

By: Greg Phillips | Dothan Eagle
Published: November 14, 2009

One of Dothan’s oldest businesses may be on its last legs.

Tri-State Plant Food, a fertilizer plant on East Burdeshaw Street that has been in operation for more than a century, laid off 90 percent of its employees and ceased production Friday, according to general manager Bill Harrison.

The plant, which dates to 1897, had employed 38 people before Friday’s lay-offs, but the economic downturn of the last few years caused damage to the company that may be irreparable.

“It was the economy, basically,” Harrison said. “We’re not in production, but we've got some inventory we have to handle, liquidate. We’ve got a skeleton crew, the bare minimum it takes to do that.”

For comparison, the city’s oldest business, Porter Hardware, opened its doors just eight years before the Tri-State facility, which was Dothan’s first fertilizer plant.

Tri-State took over the building at 1615 E. Burdeshaw St. in 1985, but it had been constantly in production since its creation.

But while Friday’s events seem to point to the facility’s closure, Harrison isn’t ready to throw in the towel yet.

He said the skeleton crew will continue to work, and no time frame has been established for how long the plant will stay open.

“All I can say is we’re ceasing production for now,” he said.