DAVID ANDERSON
June 6, 2007
An Eastern North Carolina company plans to invest $2.3 million and create 10 jobs in Lenoir County over the next three years.
Mark Pope, the county’s economic development director, told the county board of commissioners on Monday that Goldsboro Milling Co. will build two 60,000-square-foot grain storage units along N.C. 11 North, across from Unifi, formerly DuPont’s Lenoir plant.
The county will, in turn, pay the company $27,000 – or $9,000 each year – in performance-based incentives if the company fulfills its commitments, Pope said.
“They bring a lot to the table,” Pope said. “They’ve done a lot for Eastern North Carolina and we’re just tickled to have them in Lenoir County.”
Goldsboro Milling, which has operations in six states, engages in feed, turkey and hog production.
Commissioners unanimously approved a resolution to allow Goldsboro Milling to build the storage facilities, which are expected to be open by early September in time for the corn harvest.
“We extend a warm heart,” said George Graham, board chair.
Ricky Hart, a grain buyer who represented the company Monday, said officials decided to build the facilities in Lenoir because the recent national push towards ethanol production has driven up the price and production of corn, the main ingredient in ethanol.
While his company does not produce ethanol, Hart said the Lenoir location allows it to purchase more local corn and gives eastern farmers a centralized place to bring their product.
The corn is to be stored over a period of months and then moved to the company’s Goldsboro processing facilities, where it will be turned into hog and turkey feed.
David Anderson can be reached
at (252) 527-3191, Ext. 237, or
danderson@freedomenc.com