(South Boston, VA) – Governor Ralph Northam announced on Thursday that Virginia’s first large-scale hemp and CBD oil extraction facility will be located in the Town of South Boston.  Blue Ribbon Extraction will create twenty-two jobs and have committed to source ninety percent of the hemp for their process from Virginia farmers.  Over the next three years hemp farmers across the state would see a likely windfall of roughly $70 million dollars.

Using state-of-the-art equipment, the company expects to be able to process up to 5,000 pounds of industrial hemp per day, primarily grown by local farmers, most of whom are current or former tobacco farmers.

During the announcement Governor Northam stated, “Encouraging the development of new markets for Virginia farmers is one of our top priorities for growing the Commonwealth’s agricultural economy.  I am pleased to see that industrial hemp continues to create opportunity and economic vibrancy in rural Virginia, and I congratulate Halifax County, Blue Ribbon Extraction, and all other partners involved in bringing this important new processing capacity to our Commonwealth.”

Blue Ribbon Co-Chief Executive Officers, Sterling Edmunds, Jr. and Rick Gregory added, “We look forward to partnering with farmers to establish a local market for a new agricultural crop right here at home in Halifax County.  “We currently have 1.2 million pounds 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 pounds of hemp annually. Approximately $10 million will be invested in bringing this project to reality for Southern Virginia.”