State awards $180,000 in Community Business Launch awards

The Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development has awarded $180,000 in state Community Business Launch (CBL) grants to provide support to four localities with entrepreneurial training and regional economic development efforts, particularly in downtown commercial districts.

Gov. Ralph Northam announced in a press release Wednesday that Giles County, the city of Norton and the towns of Buchanan and Culpeper have each been awarded $45,000 in CBL grants. Since 2014, the CBL program has awarded $1.44 million to 24 communities serving more than 450 entrepreneurs. The grants program has attracted more than $2.25 million in private investment, with more than 230 new full-time jobs created and at least 100 jobs retained.

“This initiative recognizes the importance of small business in our communities and combines funding with educational training to help prepare budding entrepreneurs to run successful businesses in their home communities,” Northam said in the release. “By aligning regional and local economic strategies with a community’s unique vision for its future, we can build support for the new and expanding businesses that fill storefronts and create new job opportunities.”