A new company is coming to Pittsylvania County and bringing some new job opportunities.
Hon. Bettina Ring, Virginia Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry, announced that Micro Blenders, Inc., a subsidiary of Pennsylvania-based QLF, Inc., will invest over $3.5 million to establish a new additive feed manufacturing operation in Pittsylvania County.
"I am proud to support the investment of QLF, Inc, to establish a manufacturing operation in Pittsylvania County, the largest county in the Commonwealth. Their expansion will bring new jobs to the region and strengthen the manufacturing and agricultural sectors that are vital to our rural economies," she said.
The company will locate into an existing 90,000 square-foot facility in the Town of Gretna, with plans to add an additional 25,000 square-feet of high-bay manufacturing area which will have the capacity to accommodate four industrial mixers.
The company’s Virginia operation will serve existing customers in the area, while also making the rest of the southeastern U.S. livestock feed market accessible.
"Pittsylvania County and the Town of Gretna have shown us that they are extremely business friendly and are dedicated to the growth of their local agriculture industry," said Matt Eby of Micro Blenders, Inc. "This makes it the ideal place for us to locate a truly state-of-the-art agriculture pre-mix facility. We feel confident that this facility will support and grow with the surrounding agriculture industry in the region for years to come. We have found that Gretna has proven to be a friendly, hardworking and resilient community. They are just the type of people we want to surround ourselves with and have working in our facility. It’s the type of community that won’t give up and has no interest in going away. And that matches the values of our company."
Once established and operational, the Gretna facility will be geared to primarily provide large batch mixes, with the added opportunity for utilizing the Port of Virginia for exporting products to other countries.
"We are very excited to have Micro Blenders Inc. locating here in the county," said Buddy Shelton, President, Pittsylvania County Cattlemen's Association. "They are a company that many area livestock producers are currently doing business with and have an excellent record of quality and service. Area producers will now have the added benefits of lower delivery costs, shorter order times and more custom products formulated specifically for our area. This also shows Micro Blenders' recognition of Pittsylvania County being one of the state leaders for progressive beef and dairy production."
Virginia successfully competed against North Carolina for the project, which will create over 15 new direct jobs over the next three years.
