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Governor visits expanding group in Franklinton, emphasizes innovation, entrepreneurship



PRTI CEO Chris Hare leads Gov. Roy Cooper on a tour of the PRTI site. Laura Browne | The Wake Weekly

FRANKLINTON — Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, came to Franklinton on Tuesday, Oct. 4, to tour the site for Product Recovery Technology International, a group which processes discarded tires to produce goods such as oil, carbon, steel and energy. 

“Innovation drives our economy,” Cooper said. “We also know as we grow that the waste that is produced continues to grow as well. And one of the issues that we’ve been facing over the last few decades is what to do with scrap tires. Landfills are not the place for them and there are billions there.”



PRTI, operating since July 2016, melts down discarded tires and uses the converted energy to power block-chain data centers while earning revenue from selling steel, a byproduct of the process. 

Cooper emphasized the importance of such innovation and entrepreneurship within North Carolina, referencing that the state recently ranked, in one poll, as the No. 1 state to do business.

According to CEO Chris Hare, PRTI has plans to expand to five sites in North Carolina, hoping to eventually establish sites nationwide and in other parts of the world, generating jobs and keeping tires out of landfills.

“We never built this to be the first of one, we built this to be the first of many,” Hare said.

Cooper lauded the potential expansion and emphasized the importance of creating opportunities for quality employment while cutting down on waste. 

“When you think about maybe 10 years from now, maybe five years from now, this business is going strong and making such a positive impact, we can say it started in Franklin County, North Carolina,” Cooper said. “That’s a great thing. So, we’re certainly behind this effort to recycle, to make sure that we are using the energy from it in the right way and creating good paying jobs while we do it.”

The possibility of five sites in North Carolina would mean around 150 direct jobs and 1500 indirect jobs statewide, Hare said. Though the expansion would be a significant investment, Hare said it would be a worthwhile one.

“In terms of capital equipment and capital investment, that’s hundreds of millions of dollars,” Hare said. “But it’s a significant investment in solving a problem that we’re all creating when we change tires.”

Cooper said it remains important for the state government to encourage innovation and to take risks for progressive, new ideas.

“I think encouraging innovation, entrepreneurship is going to be a growing hallmark of our state and we’ve got to pay attention to it,” Cooper said.

During the tour of the site, Hare broke down the process of converting the tires into commodities to Cooper, who called PRTI’s efforts exciting. 

Cooper highlighted the important role rural areas play in building an innovative workforce.

“Over the last few years we have focused on rural North Carolina as a place to stimulate businesses and a lot of the job growth that we’ve announced has been in the rural parts of our state,” Cooper said. “So, if we continue to leverage our strengths in both urban and rural areas of our state, I think we are going to soar.”