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Tag: Bland County

Counties collaborating on industrial park

In the coming months, the rubble of a demolished furniture factory on a roughly 70-acre property in Chilhowie will be hauled away to make room for an industrial park.

Smyth County is teaming up with Bland and Washington counties, forming the Pathway Regional Industrial Facilities Authority to create Pathway Park, which will feature rail service and access to Interstate 81.

“Successful economic development and job creation is not confined by borders,” Bland County Administrator Eric Workman says of the tri-county collaboration. “The effects have resounding positive impacts on all surrounding communities in terms of job creation and synergy of economic resurgence.”

Smyth County has owned the park property for several years. It received grants to help demolish the derelict American Furniture factory and plan for new development. The caveat: Grants available to single localities were drying up.

“At the same time, we are winding down a similar regional partnership with Washington County [the Smyth-Washington IFA to develop Highlands Business Park] and felt it was a successful venture,” says Smyth County Administrator Shawn M. Utt. “Add in Bland County’s willingness to partner in these types of projects [and] we felt we had the makings of a great partnership.”

Pathway RIFA has been awarded two $600,000 grants from GO Virginia and the Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission to help replace the utility infrastructure.

“These two grants would not have been possible if it weren’t for the regional partnership,” Utt says. “These funds will be used to build new water lines, replace a collapsed sewer line that crosses the Middle Fork of the Holston River and help fund a new entrance from Route 11.”

Costs and revenue share from the park are still being worked out by the counties but, Utt says, “realistically, our three jurisdictions will share equally in the costs and equally in the future revenues.”

Once the RIFA is registered with the State Corporation Commission, design work for the sewer and water lines will begin.

“We also have to get with the Virginia Department of Transportation for the entrance road,” Utt says. “As far as breaking ground on the utility work, we hope to have the design work and bidding complete by late summer, with construction beginning later [in] 2022.”  

Bland County’s Eupepsia resort tops wellness hotel ranking

Eupepsia, a 250-acre Ayurveda wellness retreat in Bland County, was named the top wellness hotel in the nation this week by USA Today readers, who chose the resort from nominees selected by editors of USA Today’s 10Best rankings section.

Set near the Jefferson National Forest and the Blue Ridge Mountains, Eupepsia offers vegetarian cuisine, health and fitness-focused programs and a spa with floatation therapy, a salt chalet and hydrotherapy services. The facility opened in 2018 and has 26 guest rooms.

USA Today’s 10Best editors nominated 20 wellness resorts, which were then ranked by popular vote. Ranked below Eupepsia were two resorts in North Carolina and two in Arizona, and one each in the states of South Carolina, California, Vermont, Pennsylvania and Hawaii.

Hitachi AAB Power Grids expanding in Bland County

Hitachi ABB Power Grids will invest $6.2 million to upgrade equipment and increase manufacturing capacity at its operations in Bland County, where it is the county’s largest private-sector employer. The expansion will add 40 jobs, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Monday.

“Hitachi ABB Power Grids has made tremendous contributions to Southwest Virginia and the commonwealth for nearly 50 years, and we look forward to our continued partnership with this expansion,” Northam said in a statement. “The company’s decision to invest in its Bland County facility is a testament to the region’s accessibility, integrated transportation network and skilled manufacturing workforce. We thank Hitachi ABB for its commitment to sustainable energy and for helping advance our Clean Energy Virginia initiative in rural parts of the commonwealth.”

The Hitachi ABB Power Grids’ Bland facility has been in operation since 1972, designing and manufacturing medium voltage dry-type power transformers to be used to adjust and stabilize the voltage of electricity flowing between the electric grid and businesses, homes and factories. The company employs 800 people throughout Virginia, with approximately 332 working at its Bland County facility. The Bland County operation competed with other Hitachi manufacturing facilities across the United States for the project.

“With its proximity to key markets and range of transportation options, Virginia provides the right combination of location and access that makes it easy to get our products where they need to be,” Steve McKinney, Hitachi ABB Power Grids senior vice president and hub manager for transformer business in North America, said in a statement. “Perhaps most importantly, the commonwealth has a skilled workforce and is able to meet our advanced manufacturing needs. We look forward to building on our long, successful track record in Virginia.”

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) worked with the Bland County Economic Development Authority, the Virginia’s Industrial Advancement Alliance and the Port of Virginia to secure the project for Virginia. Northam approved a $140,000 grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund to assist Bland County with the project, and the company is eligible to receive benefits from the Port of Virginia Economic and Infrastructure Development Zone Grant Program. VEDP’s Virginia Jobs Investment Program will provide funding and services to support employee training.

“It is always good news when a multinational corporation like Hitachi ABB Power Grids chooses to expand, due in part, to the benefits provided by The Port of Virginia,” Virginia Port Authority CEO and Executive Director John Reinhart said in a statement. “We are expanding our capabilities to attract more companies like Hitachi ABB Power Grids, and we look forward to serving as its international trade gateway for decades to come.”

 

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