Mojotone LLC will soon move in to its new location inside the 40,000-square-foot shell building at Pender Progress Industrial Park.

The musical supply firm is getting ready to vacate a different space in Burgaw it has occupied since arriving in Pender County more than a decade ago, according to a news release Wednesday from Wilmington Business Development. The move to a new building is expected to enable Mojotone, which has 48 employees, to create 15 jobs, the release said. 

In January, the Pender County Board of Commissioners unanimously voted to accept a $750,000 bid from Mojotone for its new location in the Pender Progress Shell Building at 137 Worth Beverage Drive in Burgaw, on a 6.3-acre site.

Four County Electric Membership Corp. is also tapping a $1 million loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help Mojotone finish the building's interior and prepare it for occupancy. The funding is being provided through the Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant program.

Mojotone CEO Michael McWhorter has since sold his firm's 25,000-square-foot building on South Dudley Street in Burgaw. The company also occupies space in two additional 5,000-square-foot buildings.

"Mojo and Michael have an excellent reputation in Burgaw," said Pender County Commissioner David Williams, a Wilmington Business Development board member, in the release.

He is among several local officials who are excited to see Mojotone expand in Pender County.

"Though it's always nice to bring new industry into the area, there's something very special about keeping an existing company here and watching them grow," George Brown, chairman of the Pender County Board of Commissioners, said in the release.

Mojotone was founded in 2000 in Winston-Salem. The company has since grown its product line from vintage amplifiers to concert-scale sound components and electric guitar pick-ups.

Since arriving in Burgaw in 2005, the company has grown its annual sales from $2.5 million to $5.5 million today, and serves companies in the United States and Europe. Mojotone also sells to manufacturers, retail music stores and directly to customers.

​The company's marketplace is worldwide and it utilizes the Port of Wilmington for much of its shipping. Mojotone's customers have included Rush, Eric Clapton, ZZ Top and John Mayer.

The move facilitates the company's consolidation into a single building and can accommodate the company's future growth, McWhorter said. Mojotone, which makes amplifiers, sound system cabinetry and components for electric guitars, has the ability within the new space to double in size.

The new building's 28-foot ceilings will also enable the company to "grow its inventory of speaker cabinets and other products that are shipped to buyers worldwide,” McWhorter said.

In addition, the company is expanding its workforce, McWhorter said. Currently, Mojotone employs 48 people in positions ranging from electronics technicians and woodworkers, to sales staff and warehouse personnel.

Susan Herring, executive assistant for the Wilmington Business Development, said Mojotone still has some "upfits" to do to the building, but could occupy its new space in late September.