Eleven projects in Southwest Virginia totaling $3.71 million and eight projects in Southside totaling $1.33 million — focusing on site development, agribusiness, tourism and business development — were approved by the Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission during the first meeting the panel has held in Lee County.
Among the awards is a grant of $656,416 that will go toward constructing a shell building for a potential data center at a developing Wise County industrial park called Project Intersection. In recent months, county and economic development officials have said repeatedly that they hope to land data centers for Southwest Virginia.
On Thursday, several speakers at an economic forum at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise, including Gov. Glenn Youngkin, talked about how they hope to attract data centers.
“Let’s be clear. We’ve got certain parts of Northern Virginia that are saying, ‘No, we don’t want data centers.’ Listen, Southwest Virginia has said, ‘We want data centers,’’’ said Youngkin.
The governor also teased that there will be “a very important announcement around the corner that will, I think, crystalize the importance of these pad-ready investments for companies to come invest in.”
The tobacco commission grant, which will only be disbursed once a prospect has committed to the site, will go to the LENOWISCO Planning District Commission. The property is owned by the Lonesome Pine Regional Industrial Facilities Authority, which includes Lee, Wise, Scott and Dickenson counties and the city of Norton.
The proposed spec building would total 40,000 square feet and be designed to “offer data center prospects an option for quick occupancy and avoid the longer development times that may be a factor at competing sites,” according to a summary of the project provided by the tobacco commission.
The largest grant, $848,420, will go to the Industrial Development Authority of Dickenson County for the Red Onion Industrial Park, which is being developed.
The award will provide “last dollar assistance” with development of the 30-acre site, which will create three build-ready pads of between 5 and 15 acres. The county currently has no other available sites, according to the commission.
In other business at the meeting Wednesday, the commission authorized its staff to develop a workforce housing incentive program because it has heard from many of its communities that a shortage of workforce housing is a current problem or will become an issue if a large prospect is interested in the locality.
The goal is to “make the commission’s footprint more attractive for economic development by directly addressing a major concern of footprint localities and major employers: insufficient housing for their workforce,” states a news release from the tobacco commission.
The meeting was held Wednesday in Ewing at the DeBusk Veterinary Teaching Center. The commission held its committee meetings Tuesday in Wise.
Frank Ruff, a former state senator from Mecklenburg County, was again elected chair of the commission, while Del. Will Morefield, R-Tazewell County, was chosen to serve as vice chair. Both are two-year terms.
The commission was created in 1999 to use funding from the national tobacco settlement to help rebuild the economies of Southwest and Southside, which were impacted by the downturn in the tobacco industry.
The other grants approved by the commission were:
Southwest Virginia
Abingdon: $300,000 for a new beef builder initiative by the Abingdon Feeder Cattle Association. The cost-share program will help participants buy cattle-handling and management equipment.
Carroll County: up to $204,430 to help the Virginia Produce Co. pay for a vacuum cooler processing expansion. The equipment is needed to meet the demands of a new contract.
Washington County: $141,377 to Anderson & Sons Meats and Processing to support up to 25% of equipment purchases for a new meat processing facility.
St. Paul: $639,730 to complete the funding mix needed to move forward with renovation of the Deen building, which is being leased to a distillery business.
Tazewell County: $450,000 to the Tazewell Community Foundation for the development and construction of a new medical office building in North Tazewell.
Bristol: $70,000 for a pre-engineering/feasibility study for a connector from the Mendota Trail to downtown Bristol.
Friends of Southwest Virginia: $250,000 for a Southwest Virginia creative economy and tourism development initiative.
Galax: $50,000 to support development of a preliminary architectural report and a business and operating plan for the Rex Theater revitalization.
Round the Mountain: Southwest Virginia’s Artisan Network: $100,000 to support the implementation of the Southwest Virginia Artisan Marketing and Development Initiative, including the development of an artisan storytelling marketing campaign, expansion of galleries at regional visitor centers and the addition of an artisan engagement specialist.
Southside Virginia
Central Virginia Planning District Commission: $10,000 to assist with a comprehensive initiative to guide development of marketing collateral to raise the profile of and advance the economic stability of local agricultural producers.
Town of Bedford: $40,000 to help plan for the creation of a business development center.
Lynchburg: $95,600 to the Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance to support creation of a regional branding campaign and web presence to improve marketing of the Lynchburg region.
Sussex County: $33,100 for the Sussex & Waverly Business District Revitalization.
VT Foundation operating as Reynolds Homestead: $75,000 toward a food-based business incubator.
Pittsylvania County: $500,000 for the engineering and design of an improved natural gas gate at the Southern Virginia Megasite.
Prince Edward County: $442,005 for engineering design services, right of way costs and utility relocation costs for the build-out of an access road into the Heartland Innovative Technology Park.
Town of Lawrenceville: $91,951 for gap funding for the Heritage Trail Park Connector project, which would connect Heritage Trail Park in downtown Lawrenceville to the existing 16-mile Tobacco Heritage Trail.
