Planned Wise EDA will spur downtown growth

Establishing an economic development authority might pave the way for new businesses in the town of Wise, local officials believe.

EDAs can provide educational programs and mentoring to entrepreneurs, as well as buy, lease and sell property and administer grants, points out Reagan Walsh, the town’s planner and zoning administrator.

“I’ve run into a lot of grant opportunities … where they say, ‘OK, a municipality or a local government can apply for this grant, but it has to be administered by an entity that’s not a local government,’” Walsh explained to members of Town Council during its January meeting. “And a lot of times, the EDA … will step in and administer these grants.”

At that meeting, Town Council members voted to create an EDA and to establish a committee to set up a framework for the authority. The committee, which includes Town Manager Laura Roberts, Mayor Teresa Adkins and others, is expected to meet in the “near future,” Roberts says.

Town officials began talking about forming an EDA a few years ago, but the notion gathered steam after the town received an $18,600 federal grant to hire Greenville, South Carolina-based urban planning firm Arnett Muldrow to write an economic development strategic plan, which was finalized in December 2022. The plan outlines growth strategies over the next decade, including a recommendation that Wise’s downtown be extended to connect with the University of Virginia’s College at Wise.

It’s too early to know the cost of starting an authority, Roberts says. At least initially, the EDA will not include a paid staff member. The committee will provide Town Council with a list of potential authority appointees, who will work to implement the strategic plan.

“We definitely would want some business-minded folks involved,” she says. “But diversity is [also] important with something like this, because you need to consider all sides.”

One thing about the EDA is already clear to Roberts, however: It will not be a competitor to the Wise County Industrial Development Authority. The IDA, says Executive Director Brian Falin, is “more focused on projects that are going to be beneficial countywide,” whereas the EDA will center around downtown development projects.

However, at the end of the day, Falin says, both bodies will be working toward the same goal — to bring more jobs and opportunities to the area.