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a good fit for
farmers, jobs
A deal between a South Korean soy processing company and the county appears imminent, pending the approval of incentives. About 40 people will get the new jobs that will be created and the company will invest more than $7 million in the operation. The site is the shell building on Chadbourn Highway, which has been vacant for some time.
The company is a good fit for Columbus County. The operation needs soybeans -- lots of them -- to manufacture soy products like flour, grits and animal feed. Columbus County is prime soybean-growing country and the new plant will require one million bushels of soybeans annually. At current market prices, that will put about $6 million into the pockets of local farmers.
The new company may also need sweet potatoes to add to the mix of its animal feed products, and Columbus County is one of the state’s leading producers of yams.
A number of factors came into play to land the industry. The availability of raw material, the shell building, incentives offered by the county and state and proximity to the state port all played major roles in the decision.
With the coming of the biotech program at SCC, the high level of interest by Dole Foods in the southeast part of the state and now the soybean processing factory, the county’s farming economy is turning into a positive for the job market.