Environmentally Friendly Laundry Announces Plans to Open in Elizabeth City, North Carolina

Edenton, NC, December 22, 2007 --(PR.com)-- John Keenan knows that opening a full-service commercial laundry in Elizabeth City makes good business sense. The area’s first commercial laundry facility has announced plans to open a new $2 million facility in the Pasquotank Commerce Park to provide linen service for the vacation market and to support local businesses in need of clean linens. Once operational, the facility will run the latest generation washing machine technology that uses fewer chemicals, water, and energy. “We chose this state-of-the-art technology because it has less impact on the environment and cleans the linens using much less energy and resources than traditional laundry systems,” said John Keenan, owner of Moneysworth Beach Home Equipment Rentals.

According to Keenan, they chose to locate in the Pasquotank Commerce Park because it provided a location that met all their needs for utilities, gas, sewer, space, transportation, and available work force. “We were pleased with the support we received from Pasquotank County, Elizabeth City, Pasquotank Chamber of Commerce, and the North Carolina’s Northeast Commission. They made doing business in Elizabeth City easy by being professional and efficient throughout the entire process, so we have a good foundation for future collaboration,” Keenan continued. The 20,000 square-foot facility will bring the capacity to clean and deliver linens to 14,000 rental properties each week for area vacation homes and businesses. From towels and sheets to tablecloths and napkins, the laundry can purchase, clean, and deliver a multitude of linen choices.

“We are excited that Moneysworth has chosen the Pasquotank Commerce Park for this new facility. This company already has customers in the region, and I am confident they will broaden their services by finding more local customers,” said Rodney Bunch, Assistant County Manager for Pasquotank. Moneysworth broke ground on the new laundry in December 2007 and plans to be fully operational by May 2008. “Locating in North Carolina’s Northeast allows them to easily access their two key markets in Virginia Beach and the Outer Banks,” states Vann Rogerson, President/CEO of North Carolina’s Northeast Commission. “Ray White, our Regional Marketing Director has worked with this company for several months, and we are excited that Moneysworth has decided to join our business community.”

“We are seeing a trend toward companies locating divisions of their Southeast Virginia companies in Northeastern North Carolina,” said Gene Rogers, Chairman of North Carolina’s Northeast Commission. “With the growing tourism market in our area, I am sure they will continue to add new business to their existing contracts.”

The laundry will operate year-round, but with the Elizabeth City facility supporting the beach, production demands will pick up in the summer months. This provides summer job opportunities for students who might not otherwise find a local, full-time job to fill the summer months. On a regular basis, the laundry will employ up to 20 full-time workers to service the laundry and drive the trucks that pick-up and deliver the linens to customers. During the summer months at the Kitty Hawk facility, 17 trucks leave the laundry each day to travel up and down the beach and up to 60 miles away to make deliveries. “If you can drive there, we can deliver there,” said Jason Stanchak, General Manager at Moneysworth in Kitty Hawk, NC. Stanchak is responsible for supervising the work of the 85 college students who merge onto the Kitty Hawk property each June. “We have made our reputation over the last 19 years of business by being a very service oriented organization. The new laundry facility will allow us to better service our customers.”

North Carolina’s Northeast Commission is dedicated to increasing the standard of living for citizens in its sixteen-county region through tourism, industrial, and business development. The 16 counties that comprise the regional Commission are: Beaufort, Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Halifax, Hertford, Hyde, Martin, Northampton, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Tyrrell, and Washington. For more information about the Northeastern North Carolina Regional Economic Development Commission, contact them at www.ncnortheast.com and www.visitncne.com.

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