Hundreds of new jobs coming to Ashland - NBC12.com - Richmond, VA News

Vitamin Shoppe is opening a new distribution center in Ashland and bringing more than 100  new jobs to town.

Work is already underway in a farm field off of Route 1 to create the main hub for the nutritional supplement giant all up and down the East Coast.

Vitamin Shoppe is about to become one of the biggest employers in Ashland with its new distribution center creating 174 new jobs.  Local leaders say 250 people could work at the plant down the road.

Ashland Town Manager Charles Hartgrove says this is a deal months in the making.

"It's always nice to have a new company come to your community and want to invest, bring new jobs," Hartgrove said.  "That's really important to anywhere right now."

The Governor's office says Virginia beat out North Carolina to get the distribution center. The State is using $200,000 in grant money to bring this distribution center to the Commonwealth.  Competition for jobs is especially fierce nowadays.

"It's very challenging," he said.  "Everywhere wants new jobs. We're very fortunate to have a great location in Ashland and Hanover County."

It's that location that's one of the biggest reasons why Vitamin Shoppe chose the self-proclaimed "Center of the Universe." Both I-95 and I-295 run right through Hanover County.

Local leaders say that makes distribution centers a logical industry to grow the local economy. Economic development officials are hoping to turn Route 1 into a major mid-Atlantic hub for distributors.

The first company is usually the hardest one to attract, so there's hope Vitamin Shoppe will pave the way for more deals like this.

"There's a lot of people in desperate need of a good employment position right now," Hartgrove said.  "We're hoping this will help take care of that for some folks locally here in Ashland and Hanover County."

Right now there's no timeline for when it might open or how soon Vitamin Shoppe may start to hire. Keep your eye on the Ashland and Hanover County websites for more information, once it becomes available.

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