Don Davis for N.C. Senate

“Leadership for Our Future”

Contact: Brenda Clements

Phone: (252) 747-7555

Date: March 26, 2008 

For immediate release:

New opening shows need to embrace agriculture

(Snow Hill, North Carolina)–Visitors from across North Carolina including Commissioner of Agriculture Steve Troxler, various North Carolina State University officials, and North Carolina Department of Commerce officials joined local leaders in Snow Hill for the ribbon cutting and grand opening of Yamco, LLC.

“I was very pleased to welcome everyone to Snow Hill. There were so many partners who worked together to make today possible. It is great to see such a collaborative effort. We are now able to see the fruits of our labor. This project also demonstrates that we must continue embracing agriculture. It just makes good sense. I’d like to see more efforts such as this across North Carolina’s Fifth Senate District,” stated Snow Hill Mayor Don Davis, who is also running for the North Carolina Senate.

Yamco, LLC was formed in 2004, whose ownership is shared among seven independent sweet potato farmers. These farmers organized Yamco, LLC with the purpose of creating a business to produce value-added products.

Working with researchers from North Carolina State Univeristy’s Center for Advanced Processing and Aseptic Studies, partners of Yamco, LLC have now made operational a new means of processing the sweet potato using microwave heating.

“This is the only manufacturer using such technology in the world. Right here! There will also be a great economic impact. We are looking at over 60 new jobs,” Davis added.

Some of the partners in this project included the Golden LEAF Foundation, the North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission Foundation, the North Carolina Department of Commerce, and North Carolina State University.

Faculty and students from North Carolina State University and the Agricultural Research Service collaborated to develop, test, and jointly patent this new means of processing the sweet potato.  

North Carolina farmers produce more sweet potatoes than growers in any other state–accounting for 43 percent of the annual $290 million United States sweet potato crop in 2006. 

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