Four County Electric Membership Corporation is helping a local company position for growth with a $1 million loan through USDA’s Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant (REDLG) program. Mojotone LLC will use the funds to finish a Pender Progress Industrial Park building’s interior and ready it for occupancy.
“We can turn around and loan the money to the county, which will then loan it to Mojotone,” said Four County EMC CEO Mitchell Keel. The co-op also provided a loan to Pender Progress that supported the shell building’s initial construction. “We certainly want to keep good jobs in Pender County and keep a thriving business. That takes capital, and we are able to access the capital to make it happen.”
Mojotone LLC will move from three buildings totaling 35,000 square feet to a 40,000-square-foot shell building in Burgaw in order to accommodate an expanded product line and future growth.
An aerial view of the new Mojotone facility in Burgaw.
The company was founded in Winston-Salem in 2000 and makes amplifiers, sound system cabinetry and components for electric guitars (offering amps in colors including “Cheerwine” and “Carolina Blue”). Past customers include Rush, Eric Clapton, ZZ Top, Garth Brooks, Keith Urban and Audley Freed, rhythm guitarist for Cheryl Crow. Freed was a long-time resident of North Carolina who now resides in Nashville.
The company currently employs 48 people, with plans to expand its workforce.
“We’re very excited about this announcement,” said George Brown, chairman of the Pender County Board of Commissioners. “Though it’s always nice to bring new industry into the area, there’s something very special about keeping an existing company here and watching them grow. The benefit is there for all of us.”
Mojotone currently has capacity to produce more than 1,500 sound system cabinets per month.