Isle of Wight County

WE ARE: ISLE OF WIGHT COUNTY

Announcements In late 2016, Governor Terry McAuliffe announced that ST Tissue LLC, a manufacturer of high-quality tissue, towel and napkin products, would invest $35M to expand its operation in Isle of Wight County. The company will add a new tissue machine and hard wound towel line to increase existing capacity by more than 45,000 tons annually. Hiring for the 50 new jobs created by this expansion continued in 2017. Blue Sky Distillery, a micro-distillery, celebrated its grand opening with a ribbon cutting and open house in February 2017. The business is based in Carrollton and production operations are co-located within the Spring Lake Bottled Water Co. in Isle of Wight Industrial Park in Smithfield. Blue Sky Distillery produces DOG STAR Vodka, a smooth premium vodka handcrafted in small batches with wheat from a farm near Williamsburg. In August, the company expanded its operations to include a distillery store and tasting room. Through the store, the distillery is permitted to sell all spirits it produces to bars, restaurants, and customers. Blue Sky also sells merchandise and allows free tastings. In October, Blue Sky released its newest product, Blackbeard’s Point Premium Silver Rum.

Existing Industry Smithfield Foods is a $15B global food company and the world’s largest pork processor and hog producer. Headquartered in Isle of Wight County, it employs over 3,000 locally. In 2012, it opened a restaurant, Taste of Smithfield, located in the same Main Street building as its retail store, The Genuine Smithfield Ham Shoppe. Keurig Green Mountain is a leader in specialty coffee and innovative single serve brewing systems that can be found in 20 million homes and offices throughout North America. More than 50 leading global coffee, tea and cocoa brands have partnered with Keurig to offer consumers vast personal choices from 500+ varieties. Keurig’s Windsor facility employs more than 550 and produces 43 million K-Cups® per week, which will be 100% recyclable by 2020.

Sites & Facilities Shirley T. Holland Intermodal Park is a county-owned 1,500 acre park providing affordable sites close to The Port of Virginia via Routes 460 or 58 or by rail on the adjacent Norfolk Southern Heartland Corridor. Design and engineering work is complete and permits have been issued for stormwater, water and sewer, grading and entrance road master plans, creating an 82 acre, permit-ready site within Phase II. All utilities, including abundant water, are available. The park is a “Magnet Site” within Foreign Trade Zone #20 and is a designated Enterprise Zone. It is home to three nationally-recognized companies: Cost Plus World Market, Keurig Green Mountain and Safco Products Company, which together employ over 800 people. Master-planning is underway for approximately 985 acres in Phase III. Isle of Wight Industrial Park is a 75 acre, privately-developed park located on Route 10/Benns Church Boulevard in Smithfield. It is zoned Limited Industrial (LI) and has private water and sewer. Available sites range from 2 to 11 acres. Three planned office/ warehouse buildings ranging from 7,500 SF to 10,000 SF are approved for construction.

Small Business In January 2017, Smithfield and Isle of Wight County celebrated the opening of Q-Daddy’s Pitmaster BBQ. Q-Daddy’s is a “family-owned, second generation pit-master joint throwing down slow-smoked meaty morsels hot out of the Southern Pride smoker.” The menu features pulled-pork entrées, sandwiches, sliders and chicken tenders, with sides of broccoli salad, bacon coleslaw and hand-cut fries. Cure Coffeehouse celebrated the grand opening of its Smithfield location in September 2017. Cure serves Counter Culture Coffee, a rotating menu of unique flavored lattes, craft beer, wine, and also has a breakfast, brunch and lunch menu. Mike Aston and Chris Shelton, childhood best friends from Smithfield, opened their flagship Norfolk location in 2011 and have rapidly expanded. The coffee shop is nestled into 660 SF of space and is the first of its kind in the area.

Education Isle of Wight County Schools ranked 33rd among 132 Virginia school divisions and has a 93.8% on-time graduation rate for 2017, which tops the state average. Of 2017 graduates, 87% earned industry credentials in addition to their traditional diploma. The county’s new Career & Technical Education (CTE) Program is designed to equip students with skills to prepare them for “college, career, and life.” These courses teach specific technical skills, as well as more elusive, much sought after “soft” skills, such as problem solving, critical thinking and teamwork. Aligned with the CTE courses, Smithfield Foods announced a $3M donation to Isle of Wight County Schools in February 2017. At Smithfield High School, the donation will provide for new facilities including a makerspace, a fieldhouse for the Junior ROTC program, a multipurpose pavilion and renovations to an existing building for career-oriented training in culinary arts, mechatronics, welding, health sciences and global logistics. At Windsor High School, the funds will allow for a new construction lab, green houses, and a working farm.

In June 2017, Lendedu.com named Smithfield as 19th and Windsor as 24th in the top 100 Towns in Virginia to open a small business. LendEDU looked at over 700 towns and cities according to parameters that are crucial for small businesses to flourish.

Small Town Life Smithfield VA Events brings well-organized, first-class events to the town of Smithfield and in doing so, supports local non-profits, charities, and civic groups and strengthens the community by benefiting tourism and local business. Since 2012, 34,300 people have attended festivals including: Smithfield BOB Fest (Bloody Mary’s, Oysters, Brunswick Stew & BBQ) Smithfield Wine & Brew Fest Smithfield Bacon, Bourbon, Beach Music Fest Additionally, Smithfield VA Events has had a local economic impact of more than $1M, contributed to 1,931 hotel nights sold and donated $690,000 back to the local community. In November 2017, county and VDOT officials broke ground on the construction of a three mile walking and bike path along Battery Park Road and Nike Park Road. The trail will connect Windsor Castle Park in Smithfield to Nike Park in Carrollton. County officials also opened a new kayak launch at Nike Park in July 2017. Free to the public and open during the park’s regular hours, the launch allows everyone to explore the natural beauty, plus the twists and turns of Jones Creek.

Population:

Prime-Age Population (Aged 25-54) Civilian Labor Force:

Prime-Age Labor Force Participation Rate

Largest Employment by Industry

Manufacturing Government Accommodation & Food Services Retail Trade Healthcare & Social Assistance Wholesale Trade

EMPLOYEES

3,160 1,460 880 860 660 590 36,600 13,540 18,750 85%

% OF WORKFORCE

29.3% 13.6% 8.1% 8.0% 6.1% 5.4%

Key Employers

Smithfield Packing Company Keurig Green Mountain International Paper Company Cost Plus World Market ST Tissue Franklin Lumber Farmers Bank

Contact

WWW.INSIDETHEISLE.COM

Mr. Tom Elder, Director Isle of Wight County Economic Development Department (757) 365-6251 • telder@iwus.net