The planned Piedmont Food and Agricultural Processing Center in Hillsborough has been awarded more than $1 million in grants during the past six months.
The center will open in 2010 and will provide a wide range of food-processing equipment and business development support and education.
Farmers and local food entrepreneurs in the Piedmont will have access to the center to help them compete in the emerging farm-to-fork economy. The center will be within a one-and-half-hour drive of nearly 16,000 farms in a 22-county area.