Turkey producer gobbles up Butterball.

• Position: EASTERN

Mount Olive-based Carolina Turkeys bought the Butterball brand from Omaha, Neb.-based ConAgra Foods for $325 million and changed its name to Butterball LLC. The deal created the nation's largest producer of turkeys; Carolina Turkeys had ranked fourth. Butterball anticipates production this year of 1.4 billion pounds--most of it from the acquired operations. That's 20% of the U.S. total. Employment jumped from 2,500--all in North Carolina--to...