Rolling green pastures between Bristol and Abingdon are set to evolve over the next few years into an expansive $12 million agriculture campus for Appalachian Sustainable Development.
On Thursday afternoon, officials with the nonprofit unveiled their plans for the more than 17 acres of land, which they plan to use as a regional hub that will champion agriculture by teaching people how to grow in more innovative, efficient and profitable ways. The goal is to create new agriculture and food businesses, more efficient and successful farms, a stronger regional workforce, and better access to nutritious food and positive health outcomes, according to ASD officials.
It will also house workforce development programs and training, and will support a stronger workforce that helps people move into greater economic stability and prosperity, they said.
“In a nutshell, our mission … is to grow a stronger Appalachia through agriculture, and we’ve done that in numerous ways for almost 30 years,” said ASD CEO Kathlyn Terry Baker, who said the new campus has been a long time coming.
After losing their office space a couple of times, those with the agency decided it was time to build a campus they have control over, she said.
Fundraising for the $12 million needed has started and will go through 2025, she said. She thanked the Anne and Gene Worrell Foundation for contributing the money used to purchase the land, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Barbara Kingsolver and her husband, Steven Hopp, who live in Washington County and recently contributed $100,000 to the project.
[Disclosure: The Anne and Gene Worrell Foundation is one of our donors, but donors have no say in news decisions; see our policy.]
Construction will start as the money is raised, and the facility will be built over time, she said. Currently, ASD officials are working on preliminary architectural plans and environmental assessments and are reaching out to people and organizations to let them know about the new campus and what’s needed, Baker said.
Plans for the site, which is located just off Lee Highway in the Exit 10 area of Interstate 81, include an agriculture business development hub, a food hub, a workforce development hub, a visitor village, a greenhouse, outdoor classrooms and gardens for alley cropping demonstrations, wildflower pollination, agroforestry nursery demonstrations and research.
ASD operates a food hub in Duffield in Scott County, which is now nearing capacity, according to Baker. The plan is to expand by opening a second food hub on the new campus in Washington County so people won’t have to drive over to participate in the produce market or pick up a food box, which ASD provides by donation to those in need.
ASD will also use an existing greenhouse on the property for workforce development so people can not only learn to grow food, flowers and plants, but also learn skills like how to fix a small engine, she said.
The new campus will also be a place for “healthy living,” and will include more than a mile of hiking trails around the property, Baker added.
Also speaking at the event was Gayle Manchin, who is federal co-chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission. She congratulated ASD leaders for having a vision that is taking root and for not being hampered by county or state boundaries in their work.
She said the ARC has provided grants to help Appalachian communities who relied on coal for so many years and were hit hard by the downturn in the industry. Those in Appalachia are resilient and strong and are finding innovative ways to cultivate new industries, she said.
Manchin said she reminds people that those in Appalachia helped build this country.
“Had it not been for the energy and the coal that came out of these hills, the lights would not have stayed on in this country,” she said. “We would not be the superpower that we are today, and we wouldn’t be energy independent. And so I tell people from the Appalachian region, don’t ever hang your head or be embarrassed about where you’re from, particularly young people. We’ve allowed other people to tell the story about us … it’s time we start telling our own story, and this is a great story to tell.”
Manchin, who’s married to U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., will wrap up a three-day trip to Southwest Virginia on Friday. She visited a number of local projects and agencies, including the ASD facility in Duffield, the High Knob Destination Center and Project Intersection industrial park in Norton and the United Way of Southwest Virginia and the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center in Abingdon.
Perry Hickman, state director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Virginia office, said the agency has been involved with ASD’s food hub in Duffield and will be involved with the new campus in Washington County.
He said his agency has three people who work directly with those in Southwest Virginia and added that such rural partnerships are important in the success of projects like the one ASD is working on.
ASD was founded in 1995 and is focused on sustainable agriculture. Its five key areas are food access, workforce development, agriculture education, resource management and economic development.
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Correction 2:30 p.m. June 17: Food boxes are provided free to those in need by ASD. An earlier version of this story was incorrect on this point.