Universal Leaf plans grand opening [1000+ jobs - Nash County, NC]

Rocky Mount Telegram [Rocky Mount, N.C.] ^ | August 31, 2003 | Tom Murphy

[Constitution Day]

Universal Leaf plans grand opening

By Tom Murphy, Rocky Mount Telegram

Universal Leaf North American U.S. Inc. will hold a grand opening celebration Friday at its new 1.2 million square-foot leaf tobacco processing facility on N.C. 58 north of Nashville.

Todd Haymore, assistant vice president of external affairs for Richmond-based Universal Leaf Tobacco Co., said, "More than two years of work on this project is coming to a culmination at 10:30 a.m. Friday, when we will have a grand opening ceremony at our facility. We're quite pleased that Gov. Mike Easley will be delivering the keynote address. Right now, we're expecting more than 700 people to be out there to help us commemorate this event and hear Gov. Easley speak."

Other scheduled speakers include Nash County Board of Commissioners Chairman Claude Mayo; Allen King, chief executive officer and president of Universal Corp. - the holding company for Universal's North American operations in Richmond; and Keith Brewer, president of Universal Leaf North America U.S. Inc.

"There were some invitations sent out to people involved in the project directly, friends of the corporation and our customers. We're just expecting a big crowd out there."

Universal invested $100 million in its Nash County plant and will employ between 1,000 and 1,100 people.

"We started construction on that land (formerly the Isaac Lamm property)," Haymore said. "Here we are two years later opening the plant for business. In the grand scheme of things, it's been a relatively short period of time - but time sure did go by fast."

The Universal facility was built on a 994-acre site on the west side of N.C. 58, north of Boddie Mill Pond Road between Nashville and Castalia. Parking lots, offices and a 1.3 million-square-foot processing plant will cover about 125 to 130 acres of land.

A guided tour of Universal's plant will follow the grand opening ceremony.

[Constitution Day]

Photos of Nash facility

[Constitution Day]

Ping!

[Constitution Day]

NC ping.

[comebacknewt]

Great news! Clearly, our protectionist trade policies are responsible for North Carolina landing this facility. </sarcasm>

[Lazamataz]

Dammit.

[Iscool]

How many jobs did North Carolina lose within the last two years without any protectionist trade policies???

[y2k_free_radical]

Between Raleigh and Rocky Mount-finally a little good N.C. employment news

[y2k_free_radical]

1,000 gained;180,000 lost

[Constitution Day]

NC ping!
Please FRmail me if you want to be added to or removed from this North Carolina ping list.

[Gritty]

Wait a minute. Isn't this Evil Tobacco we're talking about here?

[Constitution Day]

Wait a minute. Isn't this Evil Tobacco we're talking about here?

Yes it is!!
I'm glad to see it... we need the jobs around here.

[Just another Joe]

Isn't this Evil Tobacco we're talking about here?

Naw, this is just tobacco.
To be classified as "Evil Tobacco" it has to be PM, RJR, or Brown and Williamson.

[Gritty]

we need the jobs around here

Well. I suppose fair is fair. After all, Evil Tobacco has kept hundreds of lawyers up to their necks in yachts for years. They may as well help some of the peasants with their car payments.

[Conspiracy Guy]

Standard Smoke Gnatzie Rant Post.

I'd rather you shoot me than slowly kill me with 43,000 poisons and 12,000 carcinogens in your second hand smoke. I smoke only to protect myself from your second hand smoke. SHS causes birth defects in fruit flies. Replace the oxygen in a vacuum jar with SHS and kill cute little lab mice with their cute little lab coats in a matter of minutes. They drop their little clipboards and any test tubes and just fall over dead. How can you continue to ruin the environment with your SHS. Are you going to wait til the polar ice caps melt? Do you not care about all the widows of those cute little lab mice or those little deformed fruit flies struggling through their 1 week lifespan. I just don't know how to get through to you.

[Constitution Day]

*I'm* a smoke gnatzie? You gotta be kiddin' me.

I support the tobacco farmers & smokers 100%!
Also, I don't smoke cigarettes, but I do smoke cigars.

I live smack in the heart of tobacco country and there is, as I type this, a fine field of it growing in front of my house.
The company I work for is in an eastern NC town that is the world's largest tobacco market.

I spent many a summer priming and barning it for my granddad & later, his brother.
In fact, many of my ancestors here in NC were tobacco farmers, so you might say that without that 'golden leaf', I would not be here.

In short, you will never hear me bad-mouth the smokers or growers.
Good day.

[Conspiracy Guy]

You took me wrong. I was being a smoke gnatzie. Not accusing you! Sorry I forgot the sarcasm tag. I'm a smoker BTW.

[Constitution Day]

You took me wrong.

Oh, I see. I reckon I did, sorry about that!!

I have not have a cup of coffee yet, so I think that must be it. I'm pretty durn touchy until I have that. ;)

Take care my FRiend.

CD

[Conspiracy Guy]

It's not your fault I charged in from left field. Look up the word "Esoteric" my picture is next to it ; )