Really, what a ridiculous statement. Todd says Smithfield has no major industry. Smithfield Foods, the world's leading pork producer is headquartered in Smithfield in a multi-million dollar complex on the Pagan River downtown. Smithfield Foods employs more than 50,000 people worldwide - more than 2,300 of them within the town limits, with a payroll within the town in the tens of millions of dollars. Smithfield is a town of only 8,100 people that has a single employer of over 2,300 locals and Todd reports that the town has no major industry! Smithfield Foods is more than just a corporate resident. It has been and continues to be a spectacular corporate citizen. Smithfield Foods and its principals have given millions of dollars to projects to benefit the town and surrounding region. These countless gifts have included the local YMCA; the community center; the Smithfield Little Theatre; acquiring the land for, designing, constructing and then giving to the town a completed 200 acre historic park with miles of walking trails, a kayak launch, a dog park, a bike trail and a fishing pier; a smaller park with a fishing pier; and major funding to revitalize and preserve the town's renowned National Historic District and nearby St. Luke’s Church, the oldest existing church of English foundation in America and the nation's only surviving Gothic building. Smithfield's Historic District includes more than 70 buildings of exceptional architectural importance, including residences of the Colonial, Federal and Victorian period and the county's colonial courthouse (1752), its adjacent clerk's office, jail, gaming house and inn, one of the few examples in the country of such preservation. This remarkable heritage is the basis of a vibrant tourist industry, which has led to the investment of millions of dollars of private money to restore and reuse historic buildings and to construct modern yet compatible enterprises such as the Smithfield Station. Smithfield Foods ran a national television campaign for its products featuring the historic 1752 inn mentioned above, which Smithfield Foods previously restored and operates as a restaurant and inn. The company recently opened a new restaurant in the center of the District that offers meals and treats featuring the company's food products. It also just committed to constructing public restrooms in what has been a long unused building downtown. This is the reality of the major industry in Smithfield - that Todd says does not exist. In fact, it is difficult to imagine any town anywhere that has a more important or more generous corporate citizen than Smithfield has in Smithfield Foods. As a note, I am not now nor have I ever been a Smithfield Foods employee. I do no business with that company. I own no stock. I have no relatives or close friends who are employees or major stockholders. Todd says that Smithfield is overdeveloped. Within the town (which has a land area of only 9.4 square miles) is at least 1 square mile of farmland, the aforementioned 200 acre (0.3 square mile) park and an 18 hole golf course. Smithfield and its surrounding county have a population density of about 160 people per square mile - less than 1/10th that of nearby Virginia Beach. The town itself has a population density of about 860 people per square mile, 40% less than Williamsburg. The real estate market in the town and surrounding county, according to real estate professionals, has fared no worse than the rest of Hampton Roads. Rental units in and around the town, according to all sources, have not been over-developed but under-developed. Most residential development within the town itself has been middle to high income. In short, an objective analysis of the parts of Todd's report that can be fact-checked reveals that everything he says is factually incorrect. It is impossible to know or comment on why Todd believes that people in Smithfield were not friendly to him.
Brad | Smithfield, VA | Report Abuse