by Tyler Arnold
Gov. Ralph Northam approved nearly $900,000 in grants to help a pharmaceutical company expand its operations in Petersburg, Virginia.
The company, AMPAC Fine Chemicals, will expand its current facility on North Normandy Drive in the city. The company will invest about $25 million for the expansion and create 156 new jobs.
Northam has approved a $640,000 grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund to help the city with the project and a $250,000 Virginia Investment Performance Grant, which is a grant that will be fully awarded when the project hits certain benchmarks. The company is also eligible for subsidies through the Major Business Facility Job Tax Credit. Virginia competed with California and Texas for the project.
“AMPAC’s investment will further advance the pharmaceutical cluster that has emerged in Petersburg and solidify our Commonwealth as a significant player in domestic drug manufacturing,” Northam said in a statement “This critical partnership between Phlow Corporation, Medicines for All Institute, Civica Inc., and AMPAC will have a positive and far-reaching impact, ensuring greater access to high-quality, lifesaving medications while also creating much-needed jobs to support our economic recovery in Virginia.”
The state will help the company create jobs through the Virginia Talent Accelerator Program, which is an initiative created by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership in coordination with partners in higher education.
In partnership with other groups, AMPAC is working to produce essential medications by using processes from the Medicines for All Institute based at the College of Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University.
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Tyler Arnold reports on Virginia and West Virginia for The Center Square. He previously worked for the Cause of Action Institute and has been published in Business Insider, USA TODAY College, National Review Online and the Washington Free Beacon.
Is the company’s focus on CBD? Then, of course, Northam will push it, since he’s already legalized marijuana along with gambling and wine/beer. Sounds just like the kind of economy we want our State supported by – NOT!