Philip Morris Receiving Station Moves to Yanceyville

Source from:  The Times News 01/10/2012

Danville Register & Bee, Va. Philip Morris USA's tobacco receiving station has moved from Danville to near Yanceyville, N.C., a company spokesman said. Philip Morris USA had been purchasing tobacco at the Piedmont Big Sale Warehouse at 1098 Riverside Drive for the past 11 years. The company notified its contracted growers at the end of November that it would receive tobacco this burley buying season at a facility 16 miles away at 93 Industrial Park Drive in Blanch, N.C., said Philip Morris USA spokesman Ken Garcia. Contracted growers would deliver next season's flue-cured tobacco to that facility. "We made that decision to improve the efficiency in the tobacco buying process and also to afford better parking and modern facilities to accommodate growers who deliver at that station," Garcia said. The Richmond-based cigarette manufacturer, part of Altria Group Inc., didn't believe the short distance would inconvenience growers, Garcia added. Small tobacco grower Donnie Moore, who grows flue-cured tobacco with his son Daniel in the Callands-Rondo area, said any time an operation moves away, it's a loss to Danville and Pittsylvania County. "I would rather they stayed in Danville," said Moore, who contracts with Philip Morris USA. While the distance isn't that much farther to drive, it's more inconvenient for farmers who live farther north, he added. But what matters more is the price buyers will give for the tobacco, he added. Moore knows farmers drive longer distances to catch a better price, especially as expenses continue to rise. Harry Lea, who co-owns Piedmont Warehouse on Trade Street and had co-owned Piedmont Big Sale from 1993 to 2000 until he sold his interest, said there are plans under way to open the Piedmont Big Sale Warehouse again as a receiving station for a U.S.-based business with a broad international customer base. Lea said he expects to make an announcement about that within the coming week. "It's become known for both its size and location to be very convenient for growers to deliver tobacco," Lea said. Enditem