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InterChange Cold Storage Plans Major Expansion in Rockingham County, Virginia

08/13/2018
InterChange Cold Storage is investing $41.6 million in Rockingham County, Virginia. The company will build a 250,0000-square-foot, state-of-the-art cold storage and blast freezing facility.

The company, owned by Rockingham County-based third-party logistics provider InterChange Group, Inc., will provide cold-chain warehousing and value-added services to the region’s food and beverage manufacturers, state officials said.

This facility will also offer blast freezing to the poultry industry, a service that adds value to processed and packaged fresh poultry by quickly freezing the product in specialized low-temperature freezers for preservation and improved marketability.

“InterChange is pleased to increase our cold storage capacity and deepen our investment in Rockingham County, the Shenandoah Valley, and the Commonwealth,” said Devon Anders, President of InterChange Group. “Enhancing our service offerings and investing in new technology is what our customers require. The integration of advanced warehousing, renewable energy, blast freezing, repackaging, product tracking, and asset-based, multi-modal transportation provide the safe and efficient cold chain demanded by today’s consumer. We also look forward to expanding our team of associates to increase economic prosperity in the Shenandoah Valley.”

As part of a package of incentives, road improvements and new rail service to this site will connect the InterChange Cold Storage facility to area manufacturers, as well as the Port of Virginia, enhancing the potential for exporting the region’s food products overseas, state and local officials noted.

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership, the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and the Shenandoah Valley Partnership worked with Rockingham County to secure the project for Virginia.

Governor Ralph Northam approved a $300,000 grant from the Governor’s Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Fund to assist Rockingham County with the project. The County is also receiving $650,000 from the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Economic Development Access Fund and $450,000 in funding from Rail Industrial Access Program administered by the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transit. Funding and services to support the company’s employee training activities will be provided through the Virginia Jobs Investment Program. In addition, Rockingham County is providing $300,000 in local matching funds to be used for making rail and road improvements at the site.

“This project creates vital infrastructure for the large and growing cluster of food and beverage industries in the Shenandoah Valley, which in turn produce major markets for Virginia farmers,” said Governor Northam.

“Virginia’s accessibility to world markets has helped make the Commonwealth a leader in food and beverage manufacturing,” said Secretary of Transportation Shannon Valentine. “This investment by InterChange and the transportation improvements the Commonwealth is making to support it highlight how our multimodal transportation system serves as the platform to drive Virginia’s economy forward.”

“This new commitment to the Shenandoah Valley by one of our premier statewide existing employers leverages our region’s prime access to markets, our expertise in agriculture and manufacturing, and our ability to support a strong industry supply chain for both,” said Carrie Chenery, Executive Director of the Shenandoah Valley Partnership. “InterChange’s investment in Rockingham County will allow our entire region to further capitalize on our agribusiness assets as a premier logistics corridor on the East Coast.”

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