One tea company announced in early 2020 that it would build a $30 million manufacturing and processing center in Franklin County, but then scrapped those plans after the pandemic took hold a few months later.
recently, Traditional medicine The company, through a spokesman, said it was still evaluating the project.
In one of Gov. Ralph Northam's early, much-admired announcements, a California maker of teas, lozenges and capsules would set up an East Coast base in Franklin's Summit View Business Park. Local and state governments were lined up with incentives to cut costs, and the business park appeared to have landed a major tenant.
The plan did not move forward at the time. The company had put it on hold during the public health crisis to focus on essential operations, but has been working on revising the plan for about a year, spokesman Daniel Cantrell said in an email. “Construction and financing costs have increased significantly since the pandemic, and while this has not affected the feasibility of the plan, it has forced us to recalibrate and appropriately size it within this new framework before moving forward,” Cantrell said.
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Cantrell said he couldn't go into details.
The Franklin County Economic Development Agency still features the project on its website. Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission Spokesman Jordan Butler said the company still has the $245,000 it pledged to the project and is waiting for more information.
Jeff Sturgeon (540) 981-3251
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