Source:  Press Release, 10/14/10

We invite you to join us for a groundbreaking ceremony for the Piedmont Food and Agricultural Processing Center Groundbreaking.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

10:30 AM
Light Refreshments will be served

500 Valley Forge Road
Hillsborough, NC 27278

Plans are to open the facility in March 2011, making 10,400 square feet of commercial kitchen space available to farmers and food entrepreneurs within a 75-mile / 22-county radius of the Hillsborough facility. 

This food processing center will be managed by Orange County under the guidance of an Inter-local Cooperative Agreement between Alamance, Chatham, Durham, and Orange Counties.  The purpose of this value-added shared-use food business incubator is to allow clients to lease commercial kitchen space and vegetable / fruit processing facilities by the hour to produce added-value food products for commercial
distribution.  Freezer and refrigerated space, as well as entrepreneur offices will also be available for lease.  Initial proposed programming includes training workshops on beginning and building food businesses.

To date, $1,206,819 has been committed to this project by the NC Agricultural Development & Farmland Preservation Trust Fund, the Tobacco Trust Fund, the Golden Leaf Foundation, the US Housing & Urban
Development Economic Initiative Program, the RAFI-USA Tobacco Communities Reinvestment Program, and the NC Department of Agricultural & Consumer Services Specialty Crop Program.

To RSVP for this event, send an email to yscarlett@co.orange.nc.us or call 919-245-2325.