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Coastal Growers LLC officials, employees and local and state dignitaries celebrated the grand opening of the peanut shelling facility today in Atmore.

The facility, located at 250 Carpet Dr., Atmore, is a 60-acre state-of-the-art peanut shelling facility with shelling warehouses and cold storage on site. The facility is an $87 million investment, and will serve as an epicenter for peanut processing in south Alabama. More than 100 farmers will have ownership stake in the company, which was organized earlier this year as a cooperative to give state farmers and additional outlet for peanut shelling and increased profits from their crop.

Coastal Growers President and CEO Dirk Lindsey said some 17 months ago, the field the facility is located on was a cotton field.

At present, the facility has employed 64 fulltime employees, and they hope to have more than 100 employed by next year, Lindsey said.

Lindsey added that Coastal Growers is shipping peanuts to 11 countries on three different continents.

Lindsey thanked all of those who helped get the facility up and running.

Guest Speaker Sen. Tommy Tuberville said it’s amazing how the facility got up and running in such a short amount of time.

“This is America,” Tuberville said. “America is the best country on this earth.”

Tuberville, who serves on the Agriculture Committee, said the facility will help people, but the area and region.

After the ribbon cutting, which was held by the Atmore Area Chamber of Commerce, the public was invited to tour the facility.