A new company is coming to Pittsylvania County and bringing some new job opportunities.

Hon. Bettina Ring, Virginia Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry, announced that Micro Blenders, Inc., a subsidiary of Pennsylvania-based QLF, Inc., will invest over $3.5 million to establish a new additive feed manufacturing operation in Pittsylvania County.

"I am proud to support the investment of QLF, Inc, to establish a manufacturing operation in Pittsylvania County, the largest county in the Commonwealth. Their expansion will bring new jobs to the region and strengthen the manufacturing and agricultural sectors that are vital to our rural economies," she said.

Micro Blenders, Inc. makes cattle feed

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New jobs are coming to Pittsylvania County.

QLF, Inc. in Pennsylvania is opening a subsidiary company called Micro Blenders, Inc. in Gretna.

QLF, Inc. makes cattle feed.

The company will initially spend $3.5 million to open, creating 15 new jobs.

Eventually, though, the company plans to invest $10 million in the Gretna facility and create 25 to 30 jobs.

 On Thursday at the Olde Dominion Agricultural Complex, the Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry Honorable Bettina Ring announced that Micro Blenders, Inc., a family owned company providing premixes of animal feeds, will be coming to Gretna and operating in the former Techma building. Micro Blenders, Inc is a subsidiary of the New Holland, Pennsylvania, based company QLF.

CHATHAM – An additive feed manufacturer is coming to the long-vacant Techma building in Gretna.

Micro Blenders, Inc. will invest more than $3.5 million and bring 15 jobs to the northern Pittsylvania County town over the next three years, Virginia’s secretary of agriculture and forestry announced Friday morning at the Olde Dominion Agricultural Complex in Chatham.

The family-owned operation could have expanded in its home state or built a new facility in North Carolina, Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry Bettina Ring told attendees.

“But they chose the Commonwealth of Virginia to do their business,” Ring said, pointing to agriculture as the state’s first industry.

Virginia competed with North Carolina for the project.

A longstanding corporate citizen of Chatham, Eastern Panel Manufacturing Inc. is investing $1 million to expand its manufacturing operations. The custom plywood manufacturer recently moved from its former 30,000-square-foot site to a 55,000-square-foot facility in the Chatham Industrial Park.

Matt Rowe, Pittsylvania County’s director of economic development, knew Eastern Panel was in growth mode. He contacted the company’s president, Keith Van Asch, as soon as he learned it was looking for a new facility.  

“I knew the company was testing the water to see how the market was building product-wise. They were looking at numerous options,” Rowe says. “I wanted to show him what kind of building product we had. He liked what we put together.”

Governor Ralph Northam made a special announcement on the southside. A pharmaceutical company is creating dozens of new jobs in the area. "Panaceutics and Pittsylvania County that's got a good ring to it," said Governor Ralph Northam.

A $5.8 million investment, and 70 new jobs are coming to the Danville/Pittsylvania County area thanks to a company called Panaceutics. Panaceutics will operate its research and manufacturing facility in the Cane Creek Industrial Park.

"We make a product to personalize nutrition and medicine, where we take the active ingredients and then formulate it based on genetics, on your lab tests, on you age, sex, weight, factors like that," says Panaceutics co-founder Edison Hudson.

In short, these little pouches have vitamins and minerals, as well as any specific medications you may need, all in one.

Good news for Pittsylvania County: dozens of new jobs are coming to town.

Amthor International, which is a tanker truck manufacturer, has been in Gretna since 1992. Now, they will be expanding, adding 90 new jobs over the next five years, and much more.

"Amthor International, the largest tanker truck manufacturer in North America, is going to invest $7.1 million to expand its operations in Gretna, Virginia," announced Virginia's Secretary of Commerce and Trade, Todd Haymore.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, along with Danville government and education leaders and dozens of high school students, participated in the ribbon-cutting ceremony for George Washington High School’s new precision machining program Thursday.

“This is the only facility like it in the commonwealth of Virginia,” McAuliffe said in a speech beforehand. “No other high school has anything like it.”

Along with Danville City Council and Danville School Board members, the machining program’s first class of nine students sat in the front row while McAuliffe introduced the program. Before the speeches, the students showed off the practice area and classrooms in the new facility, which included dozens of shiny aluminum machines the size of office desks, a computer lab with dozens of computers and a classroom.

Project Will Also Include $7 Million Investment

Governor McAuliffe announced today that Intertape Polymer Group (IPG) will expand their manufacturing operation in Pittsylvania County. The expansion will include the installation of three production lines at their facility in Pittsylvania County. The expansion will create 15 new jobs and bring $7 million in capital investment.

Tobacco Commission member, Secretary of Commerce and Trade Todd Haymore said, “It is gratifying that Intertape Polymer Group chose to expand its Pittsylvania County operation out of more than a dozen locations around the globe. The Commonwealth’s diverse advanced manufacturing sector employs more than 240,000 Virginians, and our workforce remains one of our greatest assets to help win competitive projects. We look forward to a continued partnership with IPG and to the company’s next chapter of success in Southern Virginia.”

Governor Terry McAuliffe announced Thursday that Unison Ltd, a leading global tube bending machine specialist, will invest $5.2 million to establish its first U.S. manufacturing operation in the Cane Creek Centre Industrial Park, jointly owned by the City of Danville and Pittsylvania County. Virginia successfully competed against North Carolina and the United Kingdom for the project, which will create 35 new jobs. Governor McAuliffe successfully recruited this project for the Commonwealth during his June 2017 trade and marketing mission to Europe where he met with company officials at the Paris Air Show.

“We are thrilled to add Unison to Virginia’s international corporate roster, and know the company will be a strong addition to the growing manufacturing community in Danville-Pittsylvania County,” said Governor McAuliffe, speaking at the event. “I met with Unison officials on this important project in June, and am proud the Commonwealth was selected as the company’s entry point into the U.S. market. Strengthening the advanced manufacturing sector is a key component of diversifying and building the new Virginia economy, and we look forward to helping Unison succeed.”