ROCKY MOUNT 鈥 Tea is once again brewing new opportunities for Franklin County.
The Franklin County Board of Supervisors announced Tuesday that herbal tea company Traditional Medicinals would be moving forward with plans to construct a plant at Summit View Business Park. The news comes following a five-year delay in construction due in part to the pandemic.
Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to finalize an agreement between the county and Traditional Medicinals to move forward with the project. The $47 million investment by the privately held, California-based company is expected to create 57 jobs at the business park with an average annual salary of more than $70,000, according to a performance agreement by the company.
Franklin County Administrator Chris Whitlow said a groundbreaking for the plant would be scheduled in the coming weeks. Construction would begin later this year and should be completed sometime next year, he added.
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鈥淲e are excited and really appreciate the relationship and partnership that we have with Traditional Medicinals,鈥 Whitlow said.
Representatives of Traditional Medicinals were present at Tuesday鈥檚 meeting for the announcement. Company co-founder and Chairman of the Board Drake Sadler addressed supervisors and those in the audience following the vote to continue the project.
鈥淲e feel like we鈥檝e been called here to Franklin County,鈥 Sadler said. 鈥淚鈥檝e never felt so welcome as I have here. It is really quite remarkable. You guys have something unusual. Your culture in this community is really quite special.鈥
Traditional Medicinals co-founder Drake Sadler addresses the audience at Tuesday Franklin County Board of Supervisors meeting following the announcement that plans to build a plant at Summit View Business Park would once again be moving forward after a five-year delay.
Salder expressed excitement in forming a partnership with Franklin County from their headquarters located in Rohnert Park, California. He said the company took its time in the past few years to make sure everything is in place.
鈥淣ow we are ready,鈥 Sadler said.
Traditional Medicinals first announced its partnership with Franklin County to construct a plant at the business park in January 2020. It was just two months later when the COVID-19 pandemic paused the project. A spokesman with the company told The 色多多 last year they put the project on hold to focus on essential operations during the public health crisis.
Sadler handed out boxes of the company鈥檚 products to supervisors after addressing the audience. 鈥淏etter get used to drinking tea, because we will be making a lot of it,鈥 he said.
Boone District representative and Chairman Ronnie Thompson thanked Sadler and their company for their support. He praised the work of staff to keep the project going after years of delay.
Traditional Medicinals co-founder Drake Sadler, left, with Franklin County Board of Supervisors Chairman Ronnie Thompson following the announcement of the company鈥檚 $47 million investment into the county with the construction of a new plant.
鈥淲e are finally glad that we can make the announcement show the people out in the community that we haven鈥檛 been dragging our feet and that things have been going,鈥 Thompson said.
