VA Governor's 12-day Jobs And Investment Tour Begins At Proposed Organize Produce Site

VIRGINIA — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam kicked off a 12-day Jobs and Investment Tour in Alberta in Southside Virginia on Thursday. The tour is scheduled to end on Oct. 4 as Virginia hosts the Appalachian Regional Commission Conference in St. Paul.

The tour will highlight $48.2 billion in capital investment and the creation of more than 91,500 jobs in Virginia during Northam's nearly four years in office, the governor said.

“It’s always been my mission to build an economy that works for every Virginian, no matter who you are or where you live,” Northam said in a statement Thursday.

On Thursday afternoon, Northam traveled to Alberta in Brunswick County where he announced Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development funding to build a new 45,000-square-foot produce facility.

Southern Virginia Vegetable Packing LLC partnered with Brunswick County Industrial Development Authority to construct the new $4.2 million produce processing and packing facility. Old Dominion Organic Farms, a member of Southern Virginia Vegetable Packing, will operate the facility.

Over the next three years, 40 new jobs will be created, and the facility is expected to process nearly $24 million of Virginia-grown vegetables, about 80 percent of which will be certified organic. The new facility will support more than 22 farmers located in Amelia, Brunswick, Dinwiddie, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Prince George, and Surry counties during its first season.

Since 2001, the price and volume of tobacco sales in Virginia have decreased by nearly half, forcing many southern Virginia farmers to find new markets or close down their operations. By contrast, the market for organic produce has boomed over that same period, with annual growth frequently exceeding 10 percent.

Southern Virginia Vegetable Packing is taking advantage of this market opportunity by using its existing land and labor assets, investing in organic certification, and partnering with farmers across the region to provide wholesalers with a stable and abundant supply of organic and conventional produce, the governor's office said Thursday.

After other stops across the state, the tour will conclude in St. Paul in Russell County in southwestern Virginia for the annual conference of the Appalachian Regional Commission. As state co-chair of the ARC, Northam will host representatives from 13 states.

The Appalachian Regional Commission is an economic development partnership agency of the federal government and the 13 state governments focusing on 420 counties across the Appalachian region.