EMPORIA, Kansas, September 15, 2025 —
Simmons Foods has made a $500,000 donation to Flint Hills Technical College (FHTC) in Emporia, Kansas. The money will help fund the college’s $17 million Advancing Tomorrow Campaign over the next five years.
The plan includes building a new Advanced Industry Education Center — a space focused on advanced manufacturing, automation, robotics, and industrial engineering. Inside the center, a new Simmons Industrial Engineering Lab will open, where Simmons team members will take part in student training and mock interviews.
At the event, company leaders joined college staff and students for a check-presentation ceremony. Mark Simmons, Chairman of the Board, said the initiative shows the company’s belief in local education and long-term community strength.
The Simmons Foods Education Donation is meant to help train future workers for food production and manufacturing — two areas facing ongoing skills gaps. FHTC President Caron Daugherty said the partnership keeps classroom training close to real factory conditions, giving students hands-on experience with new tools and systems.
The program fits within Simmons Giving, the company’s wider community plan that supports scholarships, tuition reimbursement, and language courses for employees. Simmons also works with local schools on career-tech programs that prepare young people for jobs in the food and packaging industries.
Simmons Foods, based in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, employs about 9,000 people. The company ranks among the top U.S. poultry producers and is the largest supplier of store-brand wet pet food in North America. Leaders say the Simmons Foods Education Donation is part of a long view — investing now to make sure tomorrow’s plants have the right skills and technology to keep growing.
The new Advanced Industry Education Center is expected to open within the next phase of FHTC’s campus expansion, strengthening the link between classroom learning and industry demand across Kansas.
