Darden Hams is increasing its production and investing $1.2 million to construct a 7,200-square-foot facility on 10 acres of family land in Isle of Wight County. The venture was announced by Gov. Glenn Youngkin during an event Tuesday at the site.

Owners Thomas and Elizabeth Darden — and a team that includes their children, friends and extended family — currently produce about 1,200 traditional salt-cured hams for sale at Darden’s Country Store (owned by Thomas’ mother and sister) and Elizabeth’s Darden’s Country Store Outpost.

“The old girl is past capacity,” Elizabeth Darden said of the current smokehouse in a phone interview. “Thomas was adding rafters to hang hams on.”

The new facility will allow them to scale up to five times the current production, Darden said, and the goal is to

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