By Lindsay Bisbee, Owner and Operator of Kyookz, LLC
Kyookz, LLC is a woman-owned, small business that manufactures refrigerated pickles in North Carolina. We run our manufacturing production at the Piedmont Food & Agricultural Processing Center (PFAP) in Hillsborough, NC. We were notified of the Orange County Economic Development Grant programs by the Director of PFAP in the summer of 2015. By fall of 2015, we applied for and were awarded the Large Business Investment Grant to be used solely for the purpose of manufacturing and supporting the production of Kyookz pickles.
We made a commitment to Orange County that we would reinvest that money into the local economy. We fulfilled that commitment by hiring Orange County residents for employment, collaborating with local farmers to grow our cucumbers, and using local businesses for supplies and marketing services.
Because of this grant, we were able to expedite our product launch. Subsequently, Kyookz grew at a very healthy rate in 2016 and expanded the product line. We are proud that we were able to reinvest that grant money back into the local economy and support local farming initiatives. We continue to do so as our business is growing… thanks to the support of Orange County.