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Attachment B
<br />The goal of this project is to establish a regional ;d use food and agricultural processing
<br />center serving target farmers and food entrepreneurs in 22 counties within a 75 mile radius of
<br />Hillsborough, including Alamance, Caswell, Chatham, Davidson, Durham, Forsyth, Franklin,
<br />Granville, Guilford, Harnett, Johnston, Lee, Moore, Nash, Orange, Person, Randolph,
<br />Rockingham, Stokes, Vance, Wake, and Warren Counties.
<br />Alamance, Chatham, Durham, and Orange Counties formed a core. regional partnership to fund
<br />and complete the feasibility study that quantifies demand and projected revenue, identifies
<br />suitable sites, specifies costs and steps to develop the facility, and estimates operational costs
<br />once the facility is open. Orange County, as the lead fiscal agent for the project, seeks the
<br />investment of the NCADFPTF as the project moves from the feasibility phase to the
<br />development phase. Project partners will continue to seek broader funding support to complete
<br />development of the facility, purchase the necessary equipment, form anon-profit entity to
<br />manage the facility, and open for business in 2010.
<br />The regional center will be developed as amulti-use value-added and agricultural processing
<br />facility. This choice of hybrid facility design will maxi_mi~P the number of farmers, food
<br />processors, and caterers who can develop new business ventures. In addition, the center will
<br />seek to foster business networking and strategic alliances among the farmer, food processor, and
<br />caterer clients. Existing shared-use facility models nationwide and in Buncombe, Ashe, and
<br />Madison Counties were examined for cost estimates and lessons learned in the February 2007
<br />study, Developing Shared-use Food and Agricultural Facilities In North Carolina,
<br />http://smithsonmills.com/ncshazeduse.pdf.
<br />Orange County currently owns property and a building that was recommended as the most
<br />suitable location for the center, and County Commissioners have dedicated the building for this
<br />processing center. Orange County will also provide in-kind staff time to help manage the
<br />project. County Commissions in Alamance, Chatham, Durham, and Orange, as well as respective
<br />county Voluntary Agricultural District boazds are currently reviewing the results of the recently
<br />completed feasibility study as they consider an official endorsement and further direct
<br />investment in the project.
<br />Support from the NCADFPTF will allow this project to hire a developer to lead efforts until the
<br />facility opens for entrepreneurial development. This individual will be responsible for overseeing
<br />every part of the development phase, including fundraising, facility renovation, equipment
<br />acquisition, and developing targeted programs for clients. NCADFPTF funding would also
<br />allow the county to hire an architect to develop blueprints and oversee bidding for construction
<br />services from a general contractor to begin facility renovation. Finally, this funding would allow
<br />us to begin the facility renovation phase itself, including demolition, clean-up, cleaning and
<br />sealing of the slab floor, and framing and drywall.
<br />The success of the project will be measured first by the pace of development, with a target to
<br />open for business in the fall of 2009. Next, the measure of success would be in the revenue that
<br />the center creates. Based on the initial surveys, client use at the facility is estimated to reach 142
<br />production hours per week after the end of the first year of operation. On a 50-week basis and at
<br />an average use fee of $22 per hour, the facility is estimated to generate more than $150,000 in
<br />fees in its second or third yeaz of operation. In the same timeframe, gross income for clients
<br />manufacturing at the facility is estimated at $2,651,000 per yeaz. Ultimately, the project's
<br />success will be measured by the number and diversity of farm operations that it helps to sustain
<br />in the Piedmont region.
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