Franklin Southampton:
A new competitive edge in Hampton Roads

Featured Ad (pdf file)

The City of Franklin and Southampton County have joined forces to become a leader in providing economic development services for business and industry at all levels. The new organization, Franklin Southampton Economic Development Inc., was formed in August 2005 as a public-private partnership dedicated to diversifying the area’s economic base.

Positioned in a strategic location on the western edge of the growing Hampton Roads market, the Franklin-Southampton region provides prime locations for new and expanding business; a business climate to support entrepreneurial and small business growth; and opportunities for the expanding tourism industry.

For those investors needing “right-now” business park locations, we offer two business parks directly on U.S. Route 58, a major four-lane, limited-access highway that connects you east to the heart of Hampton Roads and I-64 and west to I-95 and I-85 — both major north/south distribution corridors. Pretlow Business Park has 173 acres and Southampton Business Park offers 35 acres and a site designed for a 350,000-square-foot virtual building for warehousing and distribution. In 2008, a new 300-acre business park, located one mile from Route 58, should be set to come online with rail access.

When steel and concrete go in the ground, you know positive investments are being made. Recently, two existing firms, Money Mailer, a printing and distribution company, and Feridies, a peanut processor and distributor, both made major investments in new production facilities. Additionally, Southampton Terminals, a major international import/export firm, decided to build a new East Coast distribution center. These capital investments together equaled more than $17 million and will add more than 100 new jobs.

Entrepreneurs and small businesses will also find a competitive advantage in the area with an attitude and philosophy that creative ideas grow into big business and jobs that support a family’s lifestyle. The Franklin Business Incubator, an international, mixed-use incubator program was opened in 2005. The Incubator program currently supports 15 entrepreneurs with room to grow and recently had two graduates, United Medical Services and Star Investigations, which both found permanent space in the city and county. So if you have a creative idea, a sound business plan and are willing to work hard, we can provide the atmosphere to grow.

With the tourism industry growing leaps and bounds, our historical, natural and rural setting has potential for abundant tourism investment opportunities. Consider the natural assets of three beautiful rivers, pastoral farmland and wooded forests that provide the perfect backdrop for campgrounds, canoeing and kayaking facilities, bed and breakfast development, hunting and fishing camps and horseback riding/training facilities to name a few. We may not be in line for the next Disney World, but our tourism investment opportunities are endless.

Come visit our area, you will be pleasantly surprised.