The Arkansas-based retailer said the $350 million project will produce milk and other dairy products and ship them to more than 750 Walmart and Sam’s Club stores in Georgia and surrounding states. Gov. Brian Kemp praised Walmart for investing in Georgia’s $74 billion agriculture industry, Georgia’s most valuable sector.
“We are excited that Walmart will soon be leveraging Georgia’s number one industry and opening up new opportunities for farmers in the Lowndes County area,” he said in a news release.
The facility is located on Inner Perimeter Road in Valdosta, a city approximately 25 miles north of the Georgia-Florida border. The factory is scheduled to begin operations in the second half of 2025.
The Walmart facility will join a growing wave of cold storage centers across Georgia. The state currently offers 178 million cubic feet of cold storage space, according to real estate services firm CBRE, an industry that has seen unprecedented demand in recent years due to the surge in online grocery sales.
Georgia Department of Agriculture Secretary Tyler Harper said in a release that the Walmart facility will allow the state’s dairy farmers to “produce more product from start to finish right here in Georgia.” He said the partnership will provide new business for local farmers and give Walmart customers access to fresher dairy products.
Georgia is the largest milk-producing state in the Southeast, with the dairy industry generating $2.5 billion in economic activity, according to Georgia Milk Producers, a state advocacy and industry group.
Walmart will likely qualify for job creation tax credits and worker training through Georgia Quick Start. A Georgia Department of Economic Development spokesperson said negotiations involving grants and other discretionary incentives remain active.