At a news conference held this morning at the Mount Herman Courtyard, Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors Chairman, Coy Harville, and James Ladd of Matrix Technologies, Inc. of North Carolina announced the establishment of the nation’s first Essential Technology Center (eTc).  To be located in the Ringgold East Industrial Park, the environmentally-friendly company is the focus of an expanding array of new and sustainable “green” technologies that will employ during the next thirty-six months approximately 500 local residents and involve a minimum initial capital investment of $20,000,000.  Importantly, the eTc will include agricultural processes consistent with the economic traditions of Pittsylvania County.

            It is expected that the first environmentally friendly technology to go on line will be the production of fibrous concrete, “Fibercrete,” in the 70,000 square foot shell building located in the Ringgold East Industrial Park.  In the same time frame the company will be installing equipment for the Waste-to-Energy (“WtE”) component of the project.  The new equipment will use a mon-incineration (pyrolysis) method for disposing of undesirable wastes, without harmful emissions, while co-generating electricity.

            Mr. Harville remarked “We are pleased today to announce that the Matrix technology will be a prototype in our county, and will serve as a model for the environmental and bio-technical industry in the Commonwealth and in the United States.”