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Welcome to Virginia's e-Region
We hope you enjoy our e-newsletter featuring news and business development updates from the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority. If you haven't done so, please confirm your subscription to the newsletter and sign up to be included on our mailing list! |
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e-Region economic development team
represents region at two trade shows
 VCEDA and a group of economic development allies representing Virginia's e-Region traveled as a team to Greensboro, N.C. Feb. 18-20 to attend the Carolinas Industrial Woodworking Expo and to Charlotte, N.C. March 10-12 to exhibit and attend AMExpo, the largest advanced manufacturing trade show in the South. In addition to manning an exhibit booth at each show, the e-Region representatives divided into teams to meet in pre-set appointments with companies and site consultants in both locations to promote available business opportunities in Virginia's e-Region. Participating in the Greensboro trip (blue shirts in photo) were, from left: Jonathan Belcher, VCEDA; Jim Spencer, Tazewell County; Margie Douglass, Tazewell County; Tim Long, Lee County; Yvonne Rutherford, Harry Rutherford, Russell County; Craig Horn, Buchanan County; Susan Copeland, VCEDA; Carl Snodgrass, Wise County; Donnie Rife,  Dickenson County; and Fred Ramey, City of Norton. Not pictured are Charlotte Mullins, Dickenson County, and Joe Gillespie, Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP). This was the team's second visit to AMExpo (an e-Region team attended in March 2008). The e-Region team on the Charlotte trip (white shirts in photo) included, from left: Jonathan Belcher, VCEDA; Carl Snodgrass, Wise County; Joe Gillespie, VEDP; Jean Jordan, VCEDA; Charlotte Mullins, Dickenson County; Yvonne Rutherford, Harry Rutherford, Russell County; John Kilgore, Scott County; Margie Douglass, Tazewell County; Fred Ramey, City of Norton; Susan Copeland, VCEDA; Donnie Rife, Dickenson County; and Jim Spencer, Tazewell County.
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VCEDA approves $4 million in funding for economic development projects
 At its last meeting of 2008 held on Nov. 20, VCEDA approved nearly $4 million in loans and grants for economic development projects throughout the region, including a new energy research center in Wise County, a planned mixed-use business and technology park in Tazewell County and an existing industry expansion in Lee County. VCEDA approved up to a $1,045,000 grant and a $955,000 loan to the Wise County IDA for the development of a research and development facility with an emphasis on energy-affiliated initiatives. "This is an important energy research center that already has its first tenant in a planned multi-tenant facility to be constructed in the Lonesome Pine Regional Business & Technology Park in Wise," said Jonathan Belcher, VCEDA executive director. The board also recognized outgoing board members Mark Wooten and Richard Edwards with special thanks for their service on the VCEDA board. The VCEDA board also reelected Jay Rife as Chairman, George Cridlin as Vice Chairman, Donald Baker as Secretary, and Mike Quillen as Treasurer.
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$1.5 million grant for The Bluestone
VCEDA closed a $1.5 million grant Feb. 25 to the Tazewell County IDA to be used toward site development costs for the 680-acre Bluestone Regional Business and Technology Center located along U.S. 460 near Bluefield. The Bluestone is a planned mixed-use development that will include a workforce training center, offices, a hotel and conference center, retail stores, residential units, a golf course and walking trails. The site, owned by the Tazewell County IDA, is located 15 miles from I-77 and eight miles east of Tazewell. Target industries for the mixed-use development include technology-based, energy and advanced manufacturing businesses. |
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VCEDA helps Lee County business expand and increase employment
On Feb. 2, VCEDA closed a loan of up to $240,455 to KCG Call Centers, LLC for an expansion at the Lee County facility that will allow the customer service center to increase employment to 300 within five years.  KCG Call Center, located in the renovated Patriot Center, owned by the Lee County IDA, employs 111 at its customer service call center. The VCEDA loan will be used toward the purchase of equipment and will allow the company to expand its business and increase employment. |
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$1 million for broadband development
VCEDA held a closing ceremony Jan. 5 for a $1 million grant to LENOWISCO, Inc. I for broadband expansion in the region. Approved at the Aug. 21, 2008 meeting,  VCEDA approved the $1 million grant to LENOWISCO, Inc. I, a non-profit non-stock corporation of the LENOWISCO Planning District Commission, to be used for development of high-speed fiber optic broadband lines in Virginia's e-Region. The VCEDA board also approved a $1 million grant to Cumberland Plateau Co., Inc., also a non-profit, non-stock corporation of the Cumberland Plateau Planning District Commission; VCEDA closed the grant in 2008. The planning districts have been involved for several years in the development of broadband infrastructure in the region.
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$300,000 grant for heritage tourism center
 On Dec. 18, VCEDA closed a $300,000 grant to the Historic Crab Orchard Museum and Pioneer Park to be used for the development of the Farm Heritage and Events Center. The grant was approved by the VCEDA board in 2006 and was to be closed when the Historic Crab Orchard Museum and Pioneer Park group had commitments for the matching funding, which includes funds from the Virginia Tobacco Commission and other sources. Located on US Rt. 19/460 in Tazewell County, the Historic Crab Orchard Museum and Pioneer Park opened in 1982 and includes museum facilities and a collection of historic log structures. The Farm Heritage and Events Center to be constructed across US19/460 from the museum will be a multi-purpose building and will replicate features of an early 20th Century barn that was once a landmark for the agricultural identity of the Pisgah area. |
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$200,000 for Lee County shell building
 On. Dec. 17, VCEDA closed a loan for up to $200,000 to the Lee County IDA to be used toward the costs of the expansion and completion of a 60,000 sq. ft. shell building at Constitutional Oaks Business Park located on U.S. 58. "Constitutional Oaks is one of the region's newest parks, and this shell building will help Lee County market this site as well as the region as a location for business," said Jonathan Belcher, VCEDA executive director. Constitutional Oaks has 283 acres available for build to suit. |
 DCER holds ribbon-cutting ceremony
On Dec. 9, the Dickenson Center for Education and Research held a ribbon-cutting ceremony signaling the first offering of college courses at the new educational and research facility located in a former shell building in the Dickenson County Technology Park in Clintwood. The new center offers classes through Southwest Virginia Community College and Mountain Empire Community College, and future plans for the center include offering workforce training and continuing education classes. Financing for the new center was made possible by a $4 million VCEDA grant, $200,000 from the Virginia Tobacco Commission, $150,000 from the Rural Development Administration and a $27,500 grant for lab equipment from the Columbus Phipps Foundation. Future components of the facility include a planned laboratory for the research and development of carbon storage technology. |
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VCEDA helps Pemco Corporation expand
 VCEDA closed a loan Nov. 21 to Pemco Corporation to help finance a building expansion and equipment purchase at the company's Tazewell County manufacturing facility on Fincastle Turnpike in Bluefield. At its Aug. 21 and Nov. 20 meetings, the VCEDA board approved a loan of up to $557,363 to be used to help finance construction of a 5,000 sq. ft. addition to Pemco's 100,000 sq. ft. facility and for additional equipment including a 20-ton overhead bridge crane. A manufacturer of electrical power distribution and transformer equipment, Pemco has been operating from the present facility since 1966. VCEDA previously assisted in financing two expansions at Pemco, with a $200,000 loan in 1997 and a $400,000 loan approved in 2003. Current employment is 113 full-time employees and the company projects having 138 full-time employees within five years. The project will also help the company retain about 25 existing manufacturing jobs. | |
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