Virginia Produce (VPC), a family-owned agricultural produce wholesaler, is set to more than quadruple the size of its manufacturing facility, while creating 75 full-time jobs.
VPC currently sorts, processes, packages, and distributes a wide range of Virginia grown produce including tomatoes, pumpkins, sweet corn, squash, and broccoli from its 30,000ft2 in the Carroll County Industrial Park.
As part of the project, the company will invest $2.54m in capital improvements and acquire an additional Virginia grown produce from Virginia farms, worth $12m in the next three years.
The 138,000ft2 facility in industrial park will be installed with coolers and more production lines, increasing capacity for current products and allowing expansion into new produce markets.
It will help to serve a significant increase in the size of the company's farm-management program, which includes 20 Virginia growers and 1,800 acres with produce being sold into local and regional markets.
The company will employ packing line workers from the Mount Rogers Industrial and Developmental Center (IDC), a division of the Mount Rogers Community Service Board that trains and employs disabled Virginians.
Virginia Produce president Moir Beamer said, "We are excited about this opportunity to expand our business operations in Carroll County and provide our customers with a larger selection of Virginia grown produce. With this program, we are working with people with disabilities and providing consumers with more options."
The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) worked with Carroll County to secure the project.
Governor McDonnell approved a $200,000 grant through the AFID Fund to assess Carroll with the project.
