By LEE HINNANT
South Korean-based investors intend to create a start-up company in Columbus County that will manufacture soybean-based foods for export to Asian markets, state and local officials said Wednesday.
The $7 million plant will employ about 40 people and require significant supplies of edible soybeans that have not been genetically modified (GMO), said Jim Hinkle, economic development director for Columbus County. Closure of the deal hinges on the county granting economic incentives, so Hinkle and others asked The News Reporter to withhold the name of the firm and its principal investors. The Columbus County Board of Commissioners is slated to consider granting tax rebate incentives at its Feb. 6 meeting.
“This looks very good and I’m optimistic everything will go ahead,” Hinkle said.
Dan Weathington, agribusiness development representative for the state, said the investors considered four sites in North Carolina and at least one in Virginia before settling on the shell building at Columbus County’s Southeast Regional (Industrial) Park. The company needs room for a processing plant located in a soybean-growing region, plus ready access to the state port in Wilmington, Weathington said.
The company will make soybean flour, soybean grits, tofu, soy sauces and soybean sprouts, Weathington said. Soybean plant parts not used for foods will be processed on a separate line for animal feeds, he said. It is possible the company will also process some sweet potatoes, most likely as animal feed, he said.
“Anything that comes into this plant will go out in a bag,” Weathington said. “They’ll be a good employer and they want to be a part of the community.”
The principal investors have more than a decade of experience in the export business and have operated a plant in the Midwest for three years, Weathington said. All products are exported to South Korea, Japan and China. “That part of the world is the next area of great growth for commodities,” he said.
Hinkle said he was excited about the company creating 40 new jobs but the larger impact would be on the farming community. The company intends to start production in the fall and will need about one million bushels of edible soybeans – the harvest from roughly 5,000 acres, Weathington said. At current prices, the company will be buying about $6 million worth of soybeans in 2006.
In three years, the company expects to need the harvest from 25,000 acres of edible, non-GMO soybeans – a $30 million crop, Weathington said.
Hinkle said landing the company was the result of work between the N.C. Department of Agriculture, N.C. Department of Commerce, North Carolina’s Southeast, N.C. Soybean Growers Association and local farmers and local economic development groups. “This is a really good example of teamwork,” he said.
In past years, soybeans were once planted as much for hay as for the legumes. The annual Federal Crop Report shows that soybeans have generally increased from 31,969 acres in Columbus County in 1997 to 50,081 acres in 2005. The top year was 2000, when county farmers cultivated 60,414 acres of soybeans.
Last year, soybeans were grown on 1,534 county farms, making them the most often grown of major commodities.
Soybeans are popular for several reasons. The bush-like plants generally require less labor than corn and are grown after the bulk of the work raising tobacco is finished. Soybeans are fairly drought-tolerant and can withstand tropical-force winds better than corn. Most of the soybeans currently grown in Columbus County are prized for their meal, which is used mainly for animal feed.
Weathington said growers in this area currently produce two varieties of edible soybeans – Hutchinson and Roy.
Staff Writer Ray Wyche contributed to this story.
