Two-EE’s planning expansion

Two-EE’s planning expansion

Commissioners award $40,000 CEDIT grant

Posted: Tuesday, April 8, 2014 6:00 pm

BY TONI THRASHER tthrasher@h-ponline.com

The Huntington County Commissioners unanimously approved $40,000 in CEDIT funding to help Two-EE’s Winery in Roanoke expand its operations.

“It’s a $410,000 project creating five additional jobs and $100,000 per year payroll,” Huntington County United Economic Development Executive Director Mark Wickersham said. “The project will help them expand their venue for events.”

It will also help the winery expand its manufacturing and distribution, he said.

“There will be some changes to the building and the pavement,” Wickersham said.

One of those changes will be an additional dock for semitruck parking.

Tina Bobilya, executive director of the Huntington County Visitors Bureau, said the expansion will have a significant impact on tourism in Huntington County.

“Every person who comes into our community from the outside spends about an average of $30 for a winery visit, based on the 14,000 transactions they had last year,” she said. “That was about $420,000, just based on that alone. I’m pretty comfortable with the notion that they are making an impact in this community … they are definitely putting us on the map. There are more people here than we could ever hope.”

The project would increase the winery’s workforce to 15 full-time employees and its payroll to $275,000 per year, Wickersham said.