industries
coming here
By MIKE HELM
The tobacco belt is about to become the soybean belt with the announcement Monday by county officials that the South Korean company Ever Fresh Inc., will locate a plant in Whiteville to package 150,000 acres of edible soybeans annually. Most of the food is destined for Asian markets.
The plant will employee 40 people here and occupy the shell building in the Southeast Regional (Industrial) Park but it will have regional economic impact, County Economic Development Director Jim Hinkle said, because of the huge amount of soybeans needed.
“That’s where the big economic value is,” Hinkle said, adding that soybeans would be grown across Eastern N.C. as well as in South Carolina.
Ever Fresh will invest $6 million, plus another $1 million to purchase the shell building and an additional 25 acres of land, Hinkle said. The company has plans to expand the shell building at a later date, he said, and the land would be used for a staging area.
The company also plans to construct large grain elevators on site to store soybeans. Private, off-site grain elevators may also be needed.
The Columbus County Committee of 100 and the N.C. Department of Agriculture were critical players in luring Ever Fresh to the county. Dan Weathington, the state’s agribusiness development representative, said Ever Fresh considered four sites in North Carolina and one in Virginia before deciding to come to Columbus County.
Weathington said the investors have more than a decade of experience in the export business. They will need roughly 5,000 acres of soybeans this year and expect to require 25,000 acres worth of harvest in three years.
In 10 years, the plant may require as many as 100,000 acres, said James Yoo, research and development leader and general director for Ever Fresh. Yoo said the soybeans will be processed for products like soy sauce, soy grits and tofu.
The county’s proximity to the state port in Wilmington was one major factor in the company’s decision.
State law required the announcements because the county is rebating $370,000 in tax incentives to help lure the three industries. Hinkle could not say what the individual incentives were for each deal but it is based on the number of people employed and the investment made.
The other companies are Hart & Cooley, which is investing $4.5 million and will employ 200 people, and Idaho Timber Co., which is making a $1 million investment and will employ 38 people.
Hart & Cooley will occupy the former Penn Ventilator building in Tabor City. Penn pulled operations out of Tabor City earlier this year, costing more than 80 jobs. Hart & Cooley will more than double the jobs lost, offering an average salary of $495 per week plus benefits.
In addition to the local incentives, the company received a $180,000 grant from the One North Carolina Fund, which the state uses to attract businesses, Gov. Mike Easley announced in a press release Tuesday.
The company is a leading manufacturer of air distribution and vent products for forced-air heating and air conditioning systems, the release states. Hart & Cooley has already begun the hiring process.
Idaho Timber is already moving into the former Cold Point Manufacturing plant in Chadbourn and is expected to create 40 jobs. The company received a $75,000 state grant to build a railroad spur, which state Sen. R.C. Soles Jr. helped to obtain last year.
Hinkle said Idaho Timber has been slow to get started but appears to be moving along. They have cleared the tract of land that will connect the plant to the railroad.
The company makes shelving products for the home market.
The state prison and 403 jobs planned for Tabor City plus the Hart & Cooley announcement are already having an impact on the housing market in Tabor City. Town officials have received some inquiries from builders interested in putting in tract housing.
