Floyd County has been awarded a $2.7 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration to develop infrastructure to support the growth of a business park.
The 170-acre Floyd Regional Commerce Center has about 59 acres still available for prospective businesses, but only 6.4 acres are graded with access to roads and utilities. The grant will help extend a road and utilities into that undeveloped area, which will take about a year, said Lydeana Martin, the county’s community and economic development director.
Due to the commerce center’s terrain, officials expect that area to eventually yield about 27 buildable acres, Martin said in an email.
“Developing sites and spaces in the mountains can be quite expensive, especially now,” Martin said. “Yet they are an essential part of strengthening our economy.”
The federal grant will be matched with $680,000 of local money.
“This EDA grant will help ensure that Floyd County, Virginia has the resources necessary to create modern and sustainable infrastructure that will support local business, create good-paying jobs, and transform the local economy,” U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said in a news release this week.
The commerce center already is the site of a manufacturing plant of Hollingsworth & Vose, which makes filters used in appliances, vehicles and buildings. The company is undergoing a $40.2 million expansion expected to add 28,000 square feet to that plant and create 25 jobs.
The commerce center also is home to Thomas Industrial Fabrication, which makes custom machines including systems for handling materials using conveyors, piping, silos and related hardware.
The Floyd Innovation Center, a multi-tenant building completed in 2015, houses businesses specializing in poultry supply, specialty pet food, jewelry and computer consulting.
Last year, the county completed work on a 16,000-square-foot building in a section of the commerce park dubbed the Floyd Growth Center. The building was supported by a $2.3 million EDA grant and was designed to withstand natural disasters following significant flooding in the county in 2018.
Pragmatic Environmental Solutions Co., an engineering firm specializing in recovering and recycling oils and solvents, has set up shop in that building.
“I look forward to the improvements this grant will bring to the region, especially when the second phase of the Floyd Regional Commerce Center is completed,” Gov. Glenn Youngkin said in the EDA news release.