Filing Frenzy Shows Companies Lining Up for Poor Area Tax Breaks

There wouldn’t be much of an economy in Center, Texas, without Tyson Foods Inc. The company has a sprawling chicken-processing plant in town and employs about 1,600 people in a city of just over 5,000 near the Louisiana border.

So, when Tyson signaled two years ago that it wanted to build a $50 million feed mill, Center’s economic development director, Jim Gibson, was eager to find a location and suggest tax abatements.

Before long, Tyson keyed in on a new benefit: a tax break signed into law by President Donald Trump, aimed at luring new investments to thousands of ...