For the Record – Southern Virginia, April 2013

AGI-Shorewood in Danville was acquired by the Australia-based packaging company Amcor. The Danville plant produces boxes and cartons for tobacco products and chewing gum. Amcor announced that it had purchased “select printing assets” of AGI-Shorewood’s tobacco packaging and specialty folding carton operations for $114.8 million. Included in the sale were AGI-Shorewood’s other plants and assets in South Korea, Mexico and China. (WorkItSoVa.com)

Averett University is going to be pushing its name-brand in the coming months. The school has partnered with Strategic Marketing Affiliates Inc. to help promote and protect its brand. The partnership allows Averett to establish a profitable licensing program for all of its promotional merchandise. It also helps Averett protect the school logos and sell its trademarked merchandise more “aggressively,” according to Ed Jones, Averett’s marketing director. (WorkItSoVa.com)

Elba Butcher Shoppe, a family-operated butcher shop and grocery store, opened in Gretna. The store occupies Gretna Drug Co.’s former location across the street from Gretna’s municipal building. The drug store moved to another location years ago. The store is owned by area natives Wendell and Stephanie Dawson. The Dawsons have owned and operated Sycamore Grocery beside Sycamore Baptist Church on U.S. 29 since 2006. (WorkItSoVa.com)

Henry County and Martinsville will help finance construction of a 75,000-square-foot shell building — which could double in size — in the Patriot Centre at Beaver Creek industrial park. The building is scheduled to be completed near the end of 2013. The building will be similar to the last two shell buildings Martinsville and Henry County have built and sold in recent years. (The News & Advance)

The Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors has eliminated its economic development office. In a vote that surprised several supervisors, the board voted 4-3 in early March to dismantle the office, effectively firing the county’s economic development director, Ken Bowman.  The vote “set Pittsylvania County back 20 years,” said Board Chairman Marshall Ecker. County Administrator Dan Sleeper said he and Assistant County Administrator for Planning and Development Greg Sides will share Bowman’s duties.
(Danville Register & Bee)

The Dan River region’s tobacco industry is experiencing a surge in demand as the global market for American-blended cigarettes grows. A rise of middle-class consumers in China — with more purchasing power — is driving a demand for higher-quality cigarettes, said Stephen Barts, extension agent with the Virginia Cooperative Extension in Pittsylvania County. (Danville Register & Bee)