A new initiative called Accelerate Southwest Virginia was announced in Wise on Thursday by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who said the collaborative effort will take a holistic approach to solving the region’s problems by focusing on infrastructure, economic development, health care, housing and lowering the cost of living.
The governor said those are the issues that were most talked about during a “listening tour” he held across the region on March 20.
“I believe we need to go faster and accomplish more,” he said.
Youngkin was the keynote speaker for the University of Virginia’s College at Wise’s annual Southwest Virginia Economic Forum at the Convocation Center on campus.
He compared the Southwest Virginia effort to one he announced in Petersburg in August 2022 called the Partnership with Petersburg. The multifaceted project is aimed at improving education, public safety, health and transportation issues in the city in southeast Virginia, about 20 miles south of Richmond.
“Our first initiative to have a comprehensive, transformational effort with a region was done in Petersburg … and we’ve had great success there,” he said. “What it has taught us is that we have to collaborate with all stakeholders, and that’s big step number one. And so that’s what we’re doing here. Second of all, we need to … identify those areas that we believe we can move the most quickly, but on top of that in the most sustainable way, and that’s what we’ve done over the course of the last few months in designing this. And then finally we manage this like a series of real projects, because they are.”
As in Petersburg, every initiative will have a project plan and a project owner, who will be held accountable, the governor said.
Youngkin announced that the Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission is partnering with the Virginia Small Business Financing Authority to create a $10 million loan fund for economic development. He added that an additional $18.5 million can be made available.
Few details about the new initiative or how it will be funded were released.
The governor did point to a number of projects that are already underway, including ongoing improvements to Interstate 81, which he said is not only a critical corridor to Virginia, it is vital to the East Coast.
There is now $3.8 billion set aside for projects on I-81 that will last through 2036, and the projects are starting to accelerate. He warned the crowd that there will be a lot more orange cones and bulldozers working along the interstate in the coming months and years.
He pointed to the inland port proposed for Washington County. The new state budget includes $2.5 million for the project.
“This is something that I know we all agree will foster a really big step change in the ability for companies to connect to our world class infrastructure, particularly over rail and at our ports,” Youngkin said.
He also bragged about the first-of-its-kind Regional Workforce and Child Development Hub expected to open in August in Abingdon, which he said is a model program that is drawing a lot of interest.
Other successes the governor mentioned were the lab school projects underway and the continued push for broadband in Southwest Virginia, where he said, “one thousand locations have been connected over the course of the last two years.”
Project Intersection, a developing industrial park in Wise County earned a mention, as did several housing efforts. A lack of housing has been mentioned by a number of Southwest Virginia officials and was discussed by a panel of the region’s legislators earlier during the forum.
Youngkin said housing must be developed along with new jobs.
Several times, the governor thanked the legislators from Southwest Virginia, who he said work well together for the region.
Sen. Travis Hackworth, R-Tazewell County, who has invited the governor to the area a number of times, said Youngkin promised to help Southwest Virginia when he started his campaign.
“This initiative proves that his heart is with our people and that he cares about moving the region forward,” the senator said in a news release.
Del. Terry Kilgore, R-Scott County, said Accelerate Southwest Virginia “embodies the Youngkin administration’s steadfast commitment to our region. Southwest Virginia is often overlooked in Richmond. However, by being the focus of this initiative, Southwest Virginia will continue to grow and prove that it is as vital to the Commonwealth as any other region in Virginia.”
The governor also talked about a new program through the Virginia Innovation Partnership Commission, announced this week, to bring $100 million in capital to invest in small businesses and entrepreneurs. A large amount of that will go to rural areas.
He said there’s a “rural renaissance going on. We know it, we feel it, we see it and all we need to do is pour some more kerosene on the fire.”
The economic forum, which could be attended in person on campus or remotely, drew more than 300 people.