Officials with Prime 6 were joined by local and state officials last month to hold a ceremonial groundbreaking for the company’s new facility in Fairmont.

Prime 6, a manufacturer of wood-based charcoal alternatives, plans to invest $35 million in transforming the former Philips Lighting facility into a new manufacturing plant.

Among those on hand for the groundbreaking event were Gov. Jim Justice, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito and Kevin O’Leary, one of the hosts of “Shark Tank.”

Prime 6 co-founders Oron and Riki Franco appeared on Season 12 of the popular business pitch show and struck a deal with O’Leary, known as “Mr. Wonderful.”

“Today we celebrate a significant milestone: Becoming a made-in-America brand,” said Riki Franco at the groundbreaking. “We chose Fairmont because we believe in the power of community. We are excited to work hand-in-hand with the talented, hardworking people of this region, creating new jobs, supporting the local economy and establishing Fairmont as a hub for innovation.”

Prime 6’s investment is another step toward the goal of diversifying West Virginia’s economy, Justice said.

“Today, West Virginia puts another stake in the sand,” he said.

“This great company, with this great lady and this great man, who have absolutely said, ‘We’re going to do things better in America; we’re going to do things better in this great world,” Justice said.

O’Leary, who has appeared on “Shark Tank” since 2009, said small businesses like Prime 6 play an integral role in the nation’s economy.

“Sixty-two percent of the jobs in America are created by companies with between five and 500 employees,” he said. “That’s not some of the economy, that’s the whole damn thing. That’s how it works — you’ve got to build small businesses with adventurers, take risks, create jobs, grow and build a community.”

Capito thanked O’Leary for his role in bringing the company to the Mountain State.

“It’s great to welcome Mr. Wonderful to Wild and Wonderful, again,” Capito said. “We met about a year ago in Charleston and learned about the possibilities for Prime 6 and the vision of Prime 6 would be for West Virginia. And here we are, seeing it come to life.”

Hours after the groundbreaking, Prime 6 hosted a community town hall at the West Virginia National Guard Armory in Fairmont.

At the event, officials accepted applications for the new plant, which is expected to provide 75 to 100 jobs once it’s operational.

O’Leary opened the town hall by stating that he and Prime 6’s owners are committed to investing in the West Virginia economy.

“I hope you’re skeptical,” he told the crowd. “You should be. In this state, people walk in here and make announcements, then you never see them again.”

“That’s not going to be the case here. We don’t have a choice but to be successful,” O’Leary said. “We’re sticking our you-know-whats out on the line and making commitments for distribution. ...

“We’ve got to hire people and get the machinery here, and it’s got to work. Is it going to be easy? No. Are we going to have ups and downs? Yes, but let me tell you something, ... she (Riki Franco) is a beast.”

Riki Franco told the crowd that the plant site — the former home of Philips Lighting Co. in East Fairmont — totals 70 acres. And she stressed that the company wants to hire as many local workers as possible to help achieve Prime 6’s mission of growth.

“We need the good people of this community to come and introduce themselves,” she said. “We need to make this work. This is our only hope. We’re not a multimillion-dollar company. We’re built from the ground up. We want the good people of this community to be part of our journey and the future of the company, and we want to build this together. ... We have to have good people who are willing to come to work and are resilient.”

Oron Franco said Prime 6 is hiring for a wide range of positions, from factory workers to back-office staff. He reassured the community that the company’s business model is already established, with products sold in major retailers like Walmart and Lowe’s and used in the restaurant industry.

“We are in restaurants nationwide,” Oron Franco said. “We have chefs that go through a pallet in a week. ... If I could replace my importation with manufacturing and produce 150,000 units here and now ... I would do it. The scale we’re talking about is not from zero to one. We already did that. Now, we’re talking about scaling from one to five or 10 or anywhere we can get to in addition to our (current) distribution.”

While infrastructure upgrades are still needed to make the plant operational, Riki Franco said groundwork will be completed over the coming months.

The facility was originally set to be located at the former Novelis Aluminum Plant in Buckhannon, but officials announced in mid-November that this was no longer the case.

“Prime 6 will no longer be pursuing a location here due to an inability to reach an agreement on the property,” said Brandon Tenney, director of the county’s Development Authority.

Officials with the governor’s office attributed the decision to an unexpected environmental issues at the site, with communications director C.J. Harvey telling WV News the site was “ultimately deemed infeasible due to environmental challenges requiring extensive and costly remediation that would have taken too long to address.”

The Novelis facility, which employed many local residents, shut down in June, leaving a void in the community’s economic landscape.

Local officials are taking proactive steps to find new opportunities for the site, Tenney said.

“The Upshur County Development Authority has already contacted the West Virginia Department of Economic Development and Novelis to explore potential opportunities for the site moving forward,” he said.

For Upshur County officials, the primary goal remains finding ways to recover the jobs lost by the closure of the Novelis facility and increasing opportunities for economic growth, Tenney said.

“Our top priority is to ensure that the jobs that were previously located there are recovered,” he said.