Youngkin announces $8.1M in GO Virginia grants

A variety of projects around the state intended to spur economic and workforce development will get a boost from $8.1 million in state GO Virginia grants, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Friday.

The 17 projects are expected to add hundreds of jobs. Nearly $4.8 million will fund two Virginia Tech projects, including one  expected to build a talent pipeline for the emerging nanotechnology industry in Northern Virginia and another to transition to the production of green hydrogen in Hampton Roads.

Two other projects, totaling $150,000, will study the feasibility of developing multiple small modular nuclear reactor sites in Southwest Virginia, as well as the preparation of a supply chain report that will be used to identify businesses that can be retooled or recruited to provide manufacturing jobs to support those reactors. Youngkin has set a goal of developing a small modular reactor in Virginia within the next decade.

“GO Virginia allows us to invest in key projects that address regionally identified opportunities while fostering collaboration for economic growth between the private and public sectors,” Younkin said in a statement. “These projects exemplify the innovative partnerships that GO Virginia was designed to promote, and will advance Virginia’s position in critical industries such as life science and energy, as well as leverage emerging opportunities in semiconductor manufacturing.”

The largest award, $3.3 million, will go to the Virginia Nanotechnology Networked Infrastructure project in Northern Virginia. The project will connect higher education institutions with existing nanotechnology facilities across the state to a main hub at Virginia Tech by an advanced cloud-based system. The project will train 600 students, award 500 certificates and create 80 internships.

Other projects include funding for a Center for Entrepreneurship in Lynchburg; funding for pre-construction activities for a wet lab incubator and accelerator in Charlottesville; support for cybersecurity training in Caroline, King George and Stafford counties; and money to support a cybersecurity/data analytics/modeling and simulation cluster and an unmanned systems and aerospace cluster in Hampton Roads. A full list of the projects is available from the state Department of Housing and Community Development.

GO Virginia is a bipartisan, business-led state initiative to foster private-sector growth and job creation through state incentives for regional collaboration by business, education and government. A state GO Virginia board makes funding decisions and distributes Virginia Growth and Opportunity Fund monies to projects recommended by the nine regional GO Virginia councils.