Czech Manufacturer Finds A U.S. Home In Peachland

About a year ago, we announced without any fanfare that Project Kure had chosen Peachland as the location for its new sales, assembly and service facility. These “quiet” announcements are typically made at the company’s request because of timing issues regarding the marketing of their products and services or because they do not want competitors to know in advance what they are doing. For an economic developer, it always feels a little anticlimactic to simply say in a closed meeting that a project was won and just leave it at that, but we understand that the confidentiality of a project and the trust of the company is of paramount importance. 

I had an opportunity today to visit Project Kure, which I can now reveal is VEIT North America, the U.S. subsidiary of poultry transportation equipment manufacturer VEIT, based in the Czech Republic. The facility is located about a half-mile east of downtown Peachland on U.S. Highway 74. You may have seen the distinctive white and red demo unit in the parking lot or the sign which was recently erected on the highway. 

The U.S. company is owned by Dwain Johnson and is an expansion of his BAT poultry scale and security division located in Marshville. On this day, I was shown around by Dwain’s son Mark, who gave me an in-depth tour of the demo vehicle, which is designed for hauling day-old chicks from the hatchery to the growers. The trucks, which can be configured in sizes ranging from Sprinter vans to OTR semi trailers, offer the latest in chick transport technology, with redundant heating, cooling and electrical systems.  

The equipment is manufactured in the Czech Republic (Kure is Czech for chicken) and shipped to the U.S. via Charleston or Wilmington. It is then brought to Peachland and configured to customer requirements—at the time of my visit they were modifying a Moffett lift rack for a semi unit that was almost ready to leave the yard. 

The company chose Peachland because of its proximity to international ports, an international airport and the company's existing North Carolina location in the heart of the "fryer belt." With more than 1,000 poultry houses currently operating or permitted, Anson County is one of the leading chicken producing areas in the state, and Project Kure was one of two large poultry-related projects announced in the county in 2018, the other being the $15 million Catawba Biogas plant under construction near Lilesville. VEIT has already invested more than $1 million in the county and while the Peachland facility is still being developed, they are pleased with the results so far. 

These poultry-related companies form what economic developers refer to as clusters, groups of businesses which provide products or services around a core industry. The VEIT truck product line premiered at the IPPE Show in Atlanta in 2017 and the response from poultry producers has been very positive. Representatives of hatcheries from all over the country are coming to Peachland for product demos and training, further boosting the local economy.