By URIAH KISER
STAFFORD COUNTY, Va. – A company based in Dublin, Ireland will expand it’s Stafford County headquarters by 350 employees using $150,000 in state and local grant money.
Governor Robert F. McDonnell came to Stafford County on Tuesday to announce the expansion of Greencore, PLC. – a company that sits just outside Fredericksburg that produces food products for grocery stores – including it’s largest client of 20 years, 7-Eleven convenience stores. The expansion is a $5.75 million investment by the company in the local workforce, as Greencore will hire more employees and purchase new manufacturing equipment.
The announcement was made after nine months of negotiations, and a trip that brought the deal’s key players, like McDonnell and Stafford County Economic Development Chief Tim Baroody, to Irelend to meet with company CEO Liam McLennon.
“I am thankful that you chose to do buisiness here… you had options but you chose Virginia, and we thank you,” McDonnell told McLennon.
A key part of the expansion in Stafford County, said McDonnell, is access to local agriculture, which is the state’s largest industry bringing in $80 million a year.
McLennon said 30% of all food that is made at their facility will come from local farms.
“You’re only as good as the food you get, so we wanted to use locally produced food, and keep open the option to expand to more than 30% local food usage as we grow,” said McLennon. “We want to give our customers more options, as they’re looking for more healthy options with more fruits and vegetables.”
The $150,000 grant includes $75,000 in state funds, and the same amount in local matching funds from Stafford County. It’s part of of $350 million in grants that have been awarded to businesses in Virginia in the past 10 years, each of which have an average return of $9.6 on every grant dollar awarded.
“People are very insecure in this economy, so that’s why it’s so important for us to be able to get everyone together, go out and compete for these economic development projects and win,” said Virginia Economic Development Partnership President Martin J. Briley.
The money used to facilitate Greencore’s grant come from the Governor’s Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development fund, one of more than five funds at the state level reserved for economic development.
Following the speeches, McDonnell presented McLennon a box with a Virginia flag inside.
“Because budget times are so tight, we didn’t include a flag pole. We thought maybe you could spirng for that,” joked McDonnell.
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