Southwest Va. Year-in-Review: A wide range

A local connection helped bring an impactful business project to Southwest Virginia. Daniel Kennedy, who was born and spent his early days in St. Paul, was instrumental in bringing home one of the largest manufacturing deals in years.

Data center storage rack manufacturer Tate struck a deal in early November 2023 to occupy a long-vacant, 280,000-square- foot facility in St. Paul, along the Russell and Wise counties border. Tate began moving into the facility in December 2023, with plans to add 170 jobs over the next four years, according to Jonathan Belcher, executive director of the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority (VCEDA). The project includes a $14.9 million capital investment, he adds, mostly to cover equipment.

“This is big,” Belcher says. “It’s the most major manufacturing jobs announcement in the area in a long time.”

The deal gives an economic boost to St. Paul, which has mostly relied on outdoor tourism because of its access to the Spearhead Trails and proximity to the Clinch River State Park.

Tate’s access floors division, which focuses on the research, development and manufacturing of raised-access floors, airflow management and infrastructure solutions for commercial and data center applications, opened the plant on schedule in January.

Kennedy, a George Mason University graduate, is president of the Americas for Tate, a subsidiary of the Ireland-based Kingspan Group, where he’s worked for the past 14 years.

Kennedy moved away from St. Paul at an early age but visits family there regularly, especially during summers, he says.

“I know the area’s work culture and the history of the city,” says Kennedy, who now lives in Lovettsville. “They put together an attractive package for us, we did our labor studies, and the area really meets our needs.”

Belcher says, “Having people from our area giving back to the community through business projects is a method that has worked well for us.”

U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-9th District, who represents much of Southwest Virginia, says, “We love to bring anything data center-related to our area. We have the power and the water and the space to do it. [And] we know that if you are from Southwest Virginia, even if you move away, your heart is always with us here.”

Hiring is underway, but Tate’s facility won’t be fully staffed from the start, Belcher says. The company, which held a job fair on Jan. 4, will be hiring several dozen workers at a time.

“There aren’t many buildings of that size in this part of the state, and this is needed because of the data center business we have,” Belcher says. “The location means that the building’s data center function will not only serve Virginia but can extend as far as the Midwest.”

The Russell County Industrial Development Authority has owned the building for about 2 ½ years.

Ernie McFaddin, executive director of the Russell County IDA, says, “This is really huge for our area. These are high-paying jobs with an average starting salary of $58,000, with full benefits.”

The project “will pull from locals and others in our area, including eastern Tennessee, and spur more much-needed housing and other entrepreneurial business endeavors.”

Dickenson County

Dickenson County is partnering with Kentucky-based developer Southwest Properties and Kentucky-based Addiction Recovery Care (ARC) to build a 112-bed rehabilitation center for substance use disorders that’s expected to open in the first half of 2024, according to Dana Cronkhite, the county’s economic development director. She estimates the Clintwood facility, Wildwood Recovery Center, will create 50 jobs.

Those who graduate from the ARC program become eligible to be hired as peer support specialists through the center’s “Crisis to Career” program. Other vocational programs will be offered for individuals with other interests and/or skills, Cronkhite says.

Dickenson has a population of about 14,000 and ranks nationally as having one of the highest percentages of residents with a substance use disorder, Cronkhite says. Local household median income is approximately $40,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The project will be one of the first in the state to develop a substance use disorder treatment program as a form of economic development. Wildwood Recovery Center will be Virginia Medicaid-credentialed.

“There’s a need in the county for this rehabilitation,” Cronkhite says. “There can’t be a better ‘win’ for Dickenson County and our region. By treating individuals with substance use disorder, we are working to rebuild our workforce and our community.”

By building the center through modular construction — building off-site and assembling the structure on the property — rather than stick-built construction, the project reduced its costs from $12 million to $4.5 million, Cronkhite says.

In December 2023, the county announced plans for a similar women’s facility from ARC, which will be located in the former Ervinton Elementary School in Nora.

The Ervinton property was conveyed to the county from the Dickenson County School Board as surplus property and was subsequently conveyed to the IDA for development. Cronkhite anticipates it will house more than 50 beds. Renovations are expected to begin in 2024 and be completed by the end of 2025.

Tazewell County

Pennsylvania-based CNX Resources, a natural gas producer, is expanding its footprint in Southwest Virginia, adding eight executive office jobs, each paying at least $100,000. The office will be in Richlands in Tazewell County.

Meanwhile, Belcher says, it’s important to note that CNX Resources will be retaining its 67 current jobs there.

“We were worried we might lose this deal to West Virginia,” Belcher says, because CNX had previously stationed its regional headquarters in West Virginia and was considering returning it to the neighboring state.

“The incentives we were able to offer and a personal visit from Gov. Youngkin with the company helped tip the regional headquarters project in Virginia’s favor,” he says.

Pennsylvania-based business process outsourcing firm AnswerNet could bring as many as 30 remote jobs to the area, Belcher says. VCEDA has worked with the company to advertise remote teleworking jobs in the region ranging from call center agent to marketing and network administration jobs.

“This was due to some outreach by our agency to AnswerNet and similar firms to attract IT jobs to the region — a strategy we have been doing for 25 years,” Belcher says. “In the case of AnswerNet, they had 30 remote work-from-home positions they were having difficulty being able to fill [nationally], and they were willing to work with us and the [Southwest Virginia Workforce Development Board and the Virginia Employment Commission] to try and fill them in our region.”

R&R Automation announced in November 2023 that it would bring 27 jobs to Tazewell County in a $2 million expansion of its existing facility. R&R performs machine shop and fabrication work and supplies hardware to the natural gas industry.

Additionally, wealth management firm Ronald Blue Trust announced in October 2023 that it would bring 22 jobs to Wise. It is locating in an existing office building that is owned by the county and financed by VCEDA.