Local Prawn Farmers Expanding Markets

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Jun 22, 2010, 07:00 ET

SNOW HILL, N.C., June 22 /PRNewswire/ -- A Greene County based organization, the American Prawn Cooperative (APC), is expanding the market of local prawn farmers thanks to an innovative quick freeze process. This process freezes the crustaceans individually and greatly expands the life of the product, resulting in a fresher, tastier prawn.

After construction of the American Prawn Cooperative facility in Castalia in 2009, one thing was missing, according to Greene County Planner and Economic Developer, Chris Roberson.

"We knew the construction of the facility was a precursor to much larger things," Roberson said. "The one component we were missing was the quick freeze unit that would allow the prawns to be packaged in smaller units and shipped to many other markets across the country."

Value-added agriculture is a growing economic cluster in eastern North Carolina and is one of several targeted for development by North Carolina's Eastern Region (NCER). Like many counties in the east, Greene has traditionally been very tobacco-dependent. According to Roberson, this prawn project has given tobacco farmers something else to rely upon. "This is value-added agriculture at its best," Roberson said.

Partnerships were a key factor in getting this project off the ground. APC received numerous grants totaling $792,000:

NC Rural Economic Development Center - $300,000
NC State University – Technical Assistance through Cooperative Extension
Golden LEAF - $50,000
Rural Advancement Foundation International - $30,000
Tobacco Trust Fund - $200,000
US Department of Agriculture Value Added Program- $197,000
North Carolina's Eastern Region - $15,000

"APC could have chosen any one of six counties to locate this facility and we are so excited they chose Greene County," Greene County Commission Chairman Denny Garner said. "We talk about regionalism; this is regionalism in its truest form."

North Carolina's Eastern Region is a 13-county partnership established by the General Assembly to promote economic development in Nash, Edgecombe, Wilson, Lenoir, Pitt, Wayne, Greene, Duplin, Jones, Onslow, Pamlico, Craven and Carteret Counties. The region encompasses almost 7,000 square miles stretching from the eastern fringe of the Research Triangle to the Atlantic Ocean and has approximately one million residents. NCER's targeted markets for economic development are value-added agriculture, life sciences, aerospace/defense, advanced manufacturing, marine trades, and tourism and retiree attraction.