A produce packing industry that expanded into Clinton just two years ago is looking to grow that footprint even further, proposing to double its employment and substantially increase its packing facility, a prospect that economic developer John Swope deemed “great news” for Sampson County.
A public hearing has been scheduled for the Sampson Board of Commissioners’ April meeting to consider approval of additional performance-based incentives for Farm Fresh Produce, which has facilities in Faison and Clinton. Farm Fresh is considering expanding their sweet potato storage and processing operations at the Keener Road, Clinton, facility built in 2016.
The incentives would be over a five-year period in the amount of $74,036, according to county officials. The company will commit to make certain capital investments in the county, and to maintain certain levels of employment. That includes creating 36 full-time jobs at an average salary of $21,000 to $22,000 and expanding its 82,400-square-foot building with a new addition of 62,500 square feet — physical growth of 75 percent.
“They would like to commit to 36 new jobs, but they felt like it would be closer to 45,” said Swope. “Right now, they are talking about a taxable investment of $1.9 million.”
Estimated property tax revenues would total $260,931 over the first 10 years after construction is completed, of which $186,896 would be received by the county. Similar to its previous grant-back agreement with Farm Fresh, approved back in 2016, the county would “grant back” half of the company’s taxes for the first five years.
Owned by Steven Ceccarelli, Farm Fresh Produce Inc. started in 2010 as a produce marketing and selling company with six employees and corporate offices in Faison. It had approximately $12 million in sales that first year, with approximately $10 million of those sales being in sweet potatoes.
In 2015, Farm Fresh Produce Packing Inc. was established and a packing facility on Beaver Road in Sampson was opened for operation. That plant employs 25 people seasonally, and ships approximately 100 to 150 containers of sweet potatoes per week from the plant, approximately 90 percent of them overseas utilizing ports in Charleston, S.C., and Norfolk, Va.
In 2016, the company renovated and converted a 20,000-square-foot building into packing facilities and constructed a curing barn on its 44-acre site at 6370 Keener Road, Clinton. Farm Fresh Produce officially opened that 62,400-square-foot facility on Keener Road at the end of 2016.
“Since that time, they have consistently employed 43 people, which they had as of the end of 2017,” said Swope. “Their taxable investment was a little over $3 million (for the 2016 project).”
From sweet potatoes to bell peppers, butternut squash to blueberries, Farm Fresh Produce is a major food distributor across the globe, with North Carolina and Mississippi sweet potatoes being its specialty. With another significant project on the horizon, and another $2 million in taxable investment anticipated, Swope said Sampson is benefiting from another successful industry.
And local and state officials have taken notice, incentivizing a burgeoning company to continue getting bigger.
In September 2017, Sampson officials from the county presented a $180,000 grant check from the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Building Reuse Grant Program to Ceccarelli.
Swope, who serves as executive director of the Sampson Economic Development Commission, said his office has begun the process of applying to the N.C. Department of Commerce for a second Building Reuse Program grant. Based on projected employment numbers, Farm Fresh would be eligible for another $180,000 check should the application be successful.
“We are talking to N.C. Commerce about submitting a second Building Reuse Grant Program application. It would be similar — 36 jobs and $5,000 per job — and that grant total would be $180,000. We don’t see any problem with that being approved by the State of North Carolina so we’re excited about that.”
The public hearing is set for 6 p.m. Monday, April 2, in the County Auditorium. More details will be provided on the expansion as well as the grant-back incentive offer, during the Board of Commissioners’ April meeting.