Business

Beer distributor eyes $20 million Mills River facility

By Bill Moss, Published: August 5, 2013

MILLS RIVER — In the first sign of a major spinoff from the new Sierra Nevada brewery in Mills River, an Asheville beer distributor is expected to announce plans to locate a distribution center on Old Fanning Bridge Road across the river from the beer-maker.

The Henderson County Board of Commissioners on Monday will take up a request from Empire Distributors of North Carolina Inc. for economic incentives of up to $479,000 over seven years in exchange for investing at least $20 million in a new building and equipment and adding 15 jobs.
The Board of Commissioners will hold a public hearing on the economic development incentives at 5:30 p.m. Monday at the Historic Courthouse during its regular meeting. The company would be eligible for a $72,000 property tax refund in the first year, according to a public notice published in the Hendersonville Tribune on July 25.
A distributor of beer, wine and liquor, Empire has more than 700 employees in eight cities in the South including Asheville, Charlotte, Raleigh, Winston-Salem and Atlanta, its website says. It has a plant in Arden off U.S. 25 north of Airport Road.