With the promise of favorable growing conditions, Propheter and Botanisol partnered with the North Carolina based BioRegen innovation cooperative, who have an established relationship with area farmers. The hope, Propheter said, is to have “BioRegen growers grow all of our future botanical drug crops.” Botanisol’s surprising interest in Eastern North Carolina stems from Propheter’s own roots in the area. An Arizona native, Propheter was friends with the founder of Botanisol Holdings, David Talenfeld. After joining the Marine Corps, Propheter met his wife who is a Hobgood native. The two were married and soon after her father asked him if he had any interest in farming. “I said of course I do. So I got out of the Marine Corps and got into agriculture,” he said. Then, a few years ago, Talenfeld asked him to come on as CEO of Criticality and lead the construction of a new facility. “There was nobody I trusted more with this opportunity.” Talenfeld said. “Scott had the right combination of experience, training, and character to take our company to new heights.” As a farmer himself, Propheter said he knows growing crops for botanical drug producers is a unique agricultural opportunity for local farmers. “It presents a substantially greater monetary reward than growing conventional commodity crops,” he said. Technology, Propheter explained, is increasing yields in agriculture, but the cost associated with the technology is going up while the higher yields are depressing commodity prices. “So farmers are making less off these traditional commodity crops than ever before,” he said. But, it’ll still be some time before local farmers are growing medicinal crops or the company processes them into pharmaceuticals. By 2017, he noted, the company hopes to be in
production with anti-inflammatory ingredients and cannabidiol, extracted industrial hemp. “Last year, the industrial hemp pilot program was approved in North Carolina,” Propheter noted. As Criticality expands its production, Propheter noted the business should bring a number of goodpaying jobs to Halifax County. “We’re hoping to tailor our facility to be able to extract valuable medicinal and even industrial and consumer products from plants and produce year round,” Propheter said. “If we’re able to realize that objective, you’re looking at a good number of high paying jobs. We’re looking at chemists, quality assurance and quality control people, folks for marketing and someone to maintain our good manufacturing practice compliance. We hope to make North Carolina a global leader in advanced bioproduction, providing opportunities for farmers while speeding humanity’s transition from petrochemical-based to advanced agroeconomy.” Those potential jobs wouldn’t have been possible without help and assistance from a number of people, Propheter noted. Some of the people who helped Criticality get started in Halifax County were Cathy Scott and Frank Avent with the Halifax County Economic Development Commission, Mark Phillips with the N.C. Biotech Center and Eastern Carolina University, which has a robust research relationship with Criticality and the other members of the Botanisol Holdings family of companies. “We’re built from the ground up,” Propheter said. “Our investors are Eastern North Carolina farmers, doctors who share our long-term vision for the industry. It was really an exciting opportunity to be able to talk to these people and experience their genuine enthusiasm for this project.”
We hope to make North Carolina a global leader in advanced bioproduction, providing opportunities for farmers while speeding humanity’s transition from petrochemical-based to advanced agro-economy.
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