Hemp firm BRD Extraction LLC plans to invest $3.26 million to open a new hemp processing facility in South Boston, VA, according to a recent press release issued by Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s office. The company, doing business as Blue Ribbon Extraction, said the facility will be the first large-scale hemp industrial hemp processing plant and cannabidiol (CBD) oil extraction facility in the commonwealth. 

“We currently have 1.2 million lb of hemp under contract with farmers for the 2020 growing season. With the support of our partners in Halifax County and the Town of South Boston, Blue Ribbon is off to a great start, and at full capacity, has the ability to process 6 million lb annually,” Blue Ribbon’s co-chief executive officers Sterling Edmunds Jr. and Rick Gregory said in a statement. “Approximately $10 million will be invested in bringing this project to reality for southern Virginia.”

Blue Ribbon plans to install new equipment at the site to enable it to process up to 5,000 lb/day of hemp. Once operational, the company will source more than 90% of hemp from Virginia producers. Over the next three years, Blue Ribbon’s hemp purchases will generate $70 million in payments to area farmers.

22 new jobs will be created as a result of the project. A $200,000 grant from the Governor’s Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development (AFID) Fund was approved for the new facility, along with a matching grant from Halifax IDA. The Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission’s Agribusiness Committee is contributing $250,000 to support the project. 

“The industrial hemp industry has the potential to create many jobs and increased income for our farmers in the coming years and I look forward to seeing this facility up and running,” said South Boston Mayor Ed Owens in the release.