By Taylor Boyd
The Henry County Board of Supervisors approved a performance agreement and a Commonwealth’s Development Opportunity fund agreement with Rural King at its July 28 meeting, advancing plans for the company’s new distribution center at Patriot Centre Industrial Park.
The Henry County Industrial Development Authority approved the agreements a day earlier, on July 27.
Rural King announced in January that it plans to invest $40 million and establish a distribution center in the former 500,000-square-foot Nautica building at Patriot Centre. The national retailer specializes in farm supplies, home goods and outdoor equipment and also operates a store in Martinsville.
Deputy County Administrator J.R. Powell said the agreements include an $800,000 local grant, with Henry County and The Harvest Foundation each contributing $400,000.
“The state on top of it is offering a $750,000 grant as part of their incentive package,” Powell said.
Under the agreement, Rural King must invest $40 million, create 150 new jobs and pay an average annual salary of about $59,000 before receiving any incentive funds.
“None of those funds will be paid out until these milestones are met. It is basically guaranteeing that Rural King is going to make the $40 million investment, will hire 150 new employees, and that $59,000 and some change will be the average salary of the employees there,” Powell said.
Rural King has three years to meet those requirements.
Powell said county officials and Martinsville-Henry County Economic Development Corp. President and CEO Mark Heath have met with company representatives several times as the project moves forward.
“They’re really excited about coming in here and they love the (former Nautica) building. They wanted to go ahead before they put all of their merchandise in there, they wanted to replace the whole roof on the building” even though the roof isn’t leaking. “So they’re doing that now,” he said.
Once the roof replacement is complete, Powell said the company plans to begin moving equipment and merchandise into the facility.
He also noted that Rural King hired Nautica’s former maintenance director to oversee the project.
“They hired the maintenance director that was there with Nautica, which Nautica raved over him, really good guy who knew the facility really well. So they snatched him up to stay on as the maintenance director, so he’s overseeing that roof project and getting some of that stuff going on quickly,” Powell said.
Although the agreement gives Rural King up to three years to satisfy the performance requirements, Powell said the company expects to be fully operational and meet the benchmarks within about 12 months.
Powell said the project will provide a significant economic boost to the county.
“Our average salary for Henry County is around $43,000, so we’re talking $59,000. It’s well-paying jobs for our community. It’s a good capital investment for us, it’s a good tax base for us, and it’s a good fit. We have a Rural King store right here in Henry County, so for them to decide to establish a distribution center right here in our community is just a great thing. We’re looking forward to a good partnership with them,” he said.
