Hello Cardinal News readers. Welcome back to Cardinal Commerce Notes, our regular feature catching you up on various recent business news items.
If you missed last week’s edition, check it out here to learn about the Tuggle’s Gap restaurant reopening on the Blue Ridge Parkway, a Wingstop planned for Vinton and more.
Cardinal Commerce Notes will be on vacation next week. In the meantime, I’m always on the lookout for news tips. Please email me at matt@cardinalnews.org or connect with me on LinkedIn and message me there.
Virginia expands solar savings program
Virginia will offer residents across the commonwealth an opportunity to participate in Switch Together, a group purchase program designed to save money on new solar panel installations, according to the governor’s office.
Switch Together has solar installers compete to offer their lowest prices to customers.
The program previously was available only to a handful of localities in Virginia and the U.S., according to a recent news release from Gov. Abigail Spanberger.
Switch Together now is available through Oct. 15 “in more than 100 localities across Virginia, with plans to expand to every community,” according to the news release.
Program partners include the national nonprofit Solar United Neighbors and local governments. Participants also could get discounts on battery storage systems and, in some places, heat pumps, according to the release.
“By using the power of the free market, leveraging the Commonwealth’s buying power, and cutting out middlemen, we are creating significant discounts for families and businesses,” Spanberger said in the release.
Generally speaking, the math behind solar panels’ financial benefit is that the money saved on electricity should outweigh the cost of the system.
The cost of a home solar system depends on factors that include size, components and labor, but typically it falls somewhere between $15,000 and $35,000.
Spanberger estimated that Switch Together saves customers an average of 23% on a home or business solar installation, or approximately $6,300. That calculation suggests an average total price of $27,000 before the discount.
Citing U.S. Treasury Department data, Spanberger said that a solar installation is estimated to save an average household about $2,200 a year in electricity costs.
Virginia’s expansion of the program and its 23% average savings comes after a 30% federal tax credit on new solar installations expired at the end of last year.
Southwest Va. airports getting federal dollars
Regional airports in Southwest Virginia are getting millions of dollars in federal funding for infrastructure projects, according to recent announcements from U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, both D-Virginia, and U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem.
The funding includes:
- $646,392 between two grants to construct a new snow removal equipment building at Lonesome Pine Airport in Wise,
- $470,250 for design work for taxiway rehabilitation and lighting upgrades at the Virginia Highlands Airport in Washington County, and
- $380,000 for design work for runway rehabilitation at Twin County Airport, which serves Carroll and Grayson counties.
The investments are part of a funding package that also included $2.9 million to rehabilitate taxiway and apron pavement at the Virginia Tech/Montgomery Executive Airport.
“From connecting families to supporting businesses and tourism, Virginia’s airports are critical to communities across the Commonwealth,” Warner and Kaine said in a joint news release.
“Airport projects in Virginia’s Ninth District that receive federal support are important investments,” Griffith said in a separate release.
Martinsville debuts new property search site
The city of Martinsville has upgraded its geographic information system, or GIS, website through a partnership with a firm called DataScout.
The site offers a searchable database and map of property information, including assessed values, sale histories, photos and more.
A video overview of the new site is available here, while the site itself is available here.
Other localities such as Roanoke and Lynchburg also have recently upgraded their GIS sites.
Reminder: Listening sessions about new paid family and medical leave program
In case you missed it last week: The Virginia Employment Commission will hold nine virtual listening sessions to hear from Virginians as it develops regulations for the commonwealth’s new paid family and medical leave insurance program.
The program will provide up to 12 weeks of paid, job-protected leave each year to any eligible Virginia worker during certain life events such as caring for a new child or recovering from a serious health condition, according to the VEC.
A schedule of virtual listening sessions and a form to RSVP to one or more sessions are available here. The series begins Thursday.
That’s a wrap for this week. Do you know of a new business expanding or relocating in your town? Excited about a restaurant opening up soon? Maybe you’ve got an update on a story we’ve reported before. Please send me your tips and suggestions: matt@cardinalnews.org or connect with me on LinkedIn.
