ISLE OF WIGHT – Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. is coming to Isle of Wight County, opening a roasting, grinding and packaging facility that will generate 800 new jobs as it ramps up production over the next five years in Windsor’s Shirley T. Holland Intermodal Park.
Green Mountain has carved a niche in the specialty coffee market, producing more than 100 types of coffees, teas and ciders in single-portions called K-Cup packs designed for Keurig Single-Cup brewing systems. Another division of Green Mountain manufactures the increasingly popular Keurig brewing systems.
About 200 people burst into applause Friday morning as Gov. Bob McDonnell?, company executives and county officials announced the Waterbury, Vt.-based company will make a $180 million capital investment in the county. The company is buying a 330,000-square-foot warehouse on 64 acres in the intermodal park, with plans to launch production in May 2012.
The company will begin customizing the building in December and is already recruiting the first 100 employees, said Jon Wettstein?, a vice president in Green Mountain’s specialty coffee division. The salaries will average around $40,000 annually and most positions will be filled from the local workforce, he said.
Although the company will host some local job fairs, he expects most applicants will find openings and fill out applications through the company’s website, http://www.gmcr.com. Wettstein says the company expects to have at least 600 positions filled within three years and that it will operate 20-24 hours a day, with employees working in shifts.
To woo Green Mountain to Virginia, McDonnell has committed $4 million over five years from the Governor’s Opportunity Fund, a discretionary incentive fund. McDonnell said it is the second-largest business grant he has awarded during his term and that the company will also be eligible for state enterprise zone incentives and funds for employee recruitment and training.
Lisa Perry,? the county’s economic development director, declined to discuss local incentives, saying the details have not yet been finalized. Part of the package includes the waiver of machinery and tools taxes for several years, Wettstein said.
“It was highly incentivized,” said Supervisor Stan Clark,? who added the county expects Green Mountain will be the catalyst that spurs a flurry of other development in the intermodal park.
With its close proximity to U.S. Route 460 and the Port of Virginia, the 1,500-acre intermodal park is considered a linchpin in the county’s future economic development. So far, there are only two other businesses in the county-owned industrial park: a 1.1 million-square-foot distribution center operated by Cost Plus World Market and a 302,000-square-foot warehouse owned by Safco Products Co. Neither of them have the volume of workers Green Mountain will employ.
Green Mountain’s decision to open in Isle of Wight is big news for a county still reeling from the $5.6 million blow of International Paper’s closure last year. Approximately 1,100 people lost their jobs when the paper mill closed.
“An investment of this proportion is transformational for Isle of Wight County … after experiencing such devastating job losses,” McDonnell said. “This project will put 800 Virginians back to work.”
Green Mountain’s investment also proves that the economy is beginning to recover and that manufacturers are poised to invest in new facilities, Perry said.
“This is one of the biggest employment announcements in 10 years in Virginia,” Perry said. “And for every direct job created with this type of manufacturing, two or three indirect jobs are created.”
Virginia and Pennsylvania were the top finalists for the Green Mountain project, which will primarily distribute K-Packs throughout the mid-Atlantic part of the country, according to Perry and Wettstein.
As part of the deal, Columbia Gas will build a station and make natural gas available throughout the intermodal park, Perry said. In the past, propane has been the park’s only available energy source.
Green Mountain will be a moderate water user, although Perry said the county isn’t privy to specific details on water use. Officials say they hope to sign on a second manufacturer in December that would be a major water user.
Green Mountain’s arrival helps justify the contentious $148 million, 40-year Norfolk water deal, which has drawn criticism from most of the 12 candidates running for the Isle of Wight Board of Supervisors, said Clark. The guaranteed maximum water capacity — 3.7 million gallons of water daily by 2048 — is attracting business prospects that wouldn’t have considered Isle of Wight in the past, Perry said.
“We wouldn’t even have been on the radar screen if we didn’t have the water capacity,” Perry said. “This is proof that that water deal is making a difference. We are suddenly competing at a much higher level that we ever have before.”
On Oct. 19, Green Mountain announced it will expand four existing roasting and production facilities in Vermont and create 400 new jobs in that state. Nationwide, the company also has production sites in Massachusetts, California, Tennessee, Washington and Canada.
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