It isn’t just infrastructure and financial incentives that are bringing Rural King to Henry County, but also a partnership with the local community college that will meet both Rural King’s needs and a national need: truck drivers.
Virginia needs an estimated 1,200 to 1,500 truck drivers each year, said Dale Bennett, the president of the Virginia Trucking Association. And at the new Rural King distribution center coming to Henry County, the company will be running between 50 and 100 trucks in and out daily, said Kent Metzger, a senior advisor with Rural King Real Estate.
Patrick & Henry Community College is planning to meet Rural King’s needs by adding sections and instructors to its Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) programs.
“When a new company … starts thinking about our community, we’re able to demonstrate right away we’ve got the equipment, we’ve got the faculty, we’ve got the skills, we’re ready,” said college President Greg Hodges. “This is a perfect marriage, frankly, for Rural King.”
Rural King said it doesn’t know yet how many truck drivers they need or what the starting salary will be, but the pay and benefits will be competitive, Metzger said. The average salary for truck drivers nationally is more than $75,000 per year, Bennett said. That’s more than $25,000 above the median household income in Henry County, which is $48,445.
“With the salary that’s being promised, I don’t think we’ll have an issue at all,” Hodges said about having enough interest in the CDL program.
The Martinsville-Henry County Economic Development Corporation (EDC) recruits businesses and industries to the area. Once there is interest, they bring incentives to the table, such as the community college’s programs.
“Anytime we have trading available locally, it’s helpful,” Metzger said. “That’s always a plus no matter what. We’re looking forward to that relationship.”
The EDC put together an incentives package for Rural King, which Metzger said was “very attractive.” Local and state incentives offered Rural King $1.55 million if the retailer brings its promised $40 million investment and 150 jobs.
“The millions that they’re going to invest and folks they’re going to employ, and the salaries that they’re going to give are really, really significant,” Hodges said. “It’s a huge win for our region.”
Rural King chose to put its distribution center in Henry County because of location, the area’s rural atmosphere and the quality of the building, Metzger said. The company bought a 500,000-square-foot warehouse in the Patriot Centre Industrial Park that was previously occupied by VF Corp.
The company has plans to put distributions further south, and Virginia was a good starting place, Metzger said. Rural King currently has three distribution centers: one in Ohio and two in Illinois. A distribution center in Virginia will be more convenient to get to stores in the South, Metzger said. Rural King also wanted to locate in a rural area.
“It’s where we’re from, and it fits our business model,” Metzger said.
P&H gearing up for program
The community college will add additional instructors and training courses to scale up the program to meet Rural King’s needs. Right now, it has two types of CDL training cohorts. The weekday one takes four weeks to complete. But for students who work during the week, weekend training is available and takes eight weeks.
More options could be added based on Rural King’s needs, like another weekend course, afternoon programs or night courses. Cohorts typically have about six students and two instructors.
The community college has offered CDL training for four years. Patrick & Henry partners with a third-party truck driving program, Ancora, which supplies instructors for the CDL students.
Patrick & Henry told Ancora that it will need additional instructors going forward.
CDL training is one of Patrick & Henry’s short-term workforce programs. The CDL training includes class instruction on the community college’s campus, practice driving on P&H’s range and then driving on the road.
The CDL program at P&HCC costs $6,000, Hodges said, but students typically can take it for free because of local, state and federal partnerships. Virginia covers $4,000 of the program. Students pay the last $2,000, but it’s often covered through Financial Aid for Noncredit Training Leading to Industry Credentials, or FANTIC.
Students who receive SNAP benefits automatically qualify for FANTIC funding, said Shannon Whitlow, the community college’s director of workforce advising, coaching and special populations. For students who don’t qualify for FANTIC funding, the community college leverages other available resources to minimize the out-of-pocket expense, she said.
The state pays the community college the other $4,000 through FastForward: $2,000 when a student completes the program and $2,000 once the student passes the certification exam.
FastForward is a state program that helps Virginians get jobs in essential fields that don’t require a college degree. It’s available at all Virginia community colleges, and jobs include power line workers, medical assistants and heavy equipment operators.
“That money is very, very helpful to encourage students or to encourage potential students to enter truck driving,” said Bennett, the president of the trucking association.
An issue, though, in filling truck driving positions is the number of drivers aging out and retiring, Bennett said.
The median age for the U.S. workforce is about 42 years old, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, while the median age for truck drivers is about 47 years old.
It’s also difficult to find people who are qualified, Bennett said. Truck drivers have to go through a CDL program and need to get their license. They have to demonstrate that they can operate a large truck safely, including passing drug and alcohol testing, Bennett said. Drug and alcohol testing sometimes interferes with students getting their CDL license.
Community colleges have a “great delivery system for training,” Bennett said, and are important in giving opportunities to those interested in entering the industry.
Rural King will better understand its needs for truck drivers in early 2027, Metzger said, but the company is moving forward with construction at the distribution center, including reroofing the entire building and constructing a maintenance building for trucks.
