Capitol Broadcasting Company purchased the Rocky Mount Mill in 2007. WRAL-TV Anchor/Reporter Bryan Mims put together a story about the goings on at the Mill for the news last week:
Rocky Mount Brew Mill
Rocky Mount—a city in need of jobs—is about to get an economic boost. The city boasts an unemployment rate of 7.3 percent, the highest ranking in North Carolina metro areas.
In a tired and run-down cotton mill, filled with memories of prosperous times past, Rocky Mount Mill is catching a second wind, tapping into the craft beer trend to get the spirit of entrepreneurship flowing.
Eric Ghiloni and his wife, Mary, are part owners of Koi Pond Brewing Company, located in a mill house. It’s the first business to open on the mill property that has been renamed the Rocky Mount Brewmill.
The brew mill will be known as a “craft beer incubator.” Its goal is to have brewers collaborate and share ideas with each other, but it will also be open to all kinds of business.
In a region that has been down in past years and seen jobs go dry, Eric Ghiloni said he’s convinced the brew mill will be an economic toast of the town.
Rocky Mount Brew Mill
“I think we’ve kind of hit the place where it’s a blank canvas; opportunities are abounding,” he said. “I think the young people are coming back and seeing an opportunity where they can be somebody, do something and leave a mark.”
Evan Covington Chavez, the development manager of Rocky Mount Brewmill, said people will be drawn to the mill because of its history across the state.
“These mills are across North Carolina, and they mean so much to people because they represent history,” he said.
Apartments, offices and stores in the factory—which will overlook the Tar River—are planned to be built by 2018.
“It will be totally transformed. It will become a more vibrant place like it was running,” Chavez said. “It will be a place people will want to come to enjoy a beer, enjoy some family time.”
More breweries are on tap, including one called Sweet Taters, which is set to open in April.
Jeff Tobias, a 35-year-old Rocky Mount native and vice president of SpringBoardNC – a co-working space that has its offices at the new brew mill – said the new addition will create intrigue for relocation to the Rocky Mount area.
“It’s really going to be—I think—the heartbeat of the city,” he said. “Rocky Mount has always been a thriving hub of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs have kind of defined this area for as long as it’s been Rocky Mount.”
Thanks to WRAL-TV’s Bryan Mims for this capcom story & to WRAL-TV’s Richard Adkins for these capcom photos.
