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Tag: Go Virginia

JLARC: GO Virginia’s economic impact positive but undefined

The state’s GO Virginia economic development initiative is likely improving regional collaboration and having positive economic impacts, but those can’t be reliably determined, according to a Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission report presented Monday.

In 2022, JLARC directed staff to review GO Virginia, which the state government created in 2016. GO Virginia provides economic and workforce development grants to encourage regional collaboration and grow and diversify local economies.

The state is divided into nine GO Virginia regions, each with its own governing council and growth and diversification plan. The councils and GO Virginia’s powerful statewide board make grant funding decisions, while the Department of Housing and Community Development administers the program.

“While GO Virginia’s ultimate goal is to strengthen the economy, it is not an incentive program or a job creation program,” said JLARC Chief Legislative Analyst Mark Gribbin, who led the review and presented the findings.

For fiscal years 2018 to 2023, Go Virginia awarded 226 grants totaling $110 million, with about 67% of those grants going to public organizations like local governments, colleges, universities and regional organizations. About 33% have gone to nonprofits. Grants cannot directly go to, benefit or attract specific businesses.

Grants fall into four categories:

  • Workforce development, which accounted for 44% of grants and $49 million awarded;
  • Site development, which accounted for 14% of grants and $23 million awarded;
  • Startup ecosystem, which accounted for 22% of grants and $17 million awarded;
  • And cluster scale-up, which accounted for 20% of grants and $22 million awarded.

GO Virginia appears to be improving regional collaboration through funded projects, regional councils with public and private stakeholders and regional growth plan development, JLARC found. Funded projects must include at least two local government partners, and all 133 Virginia localities have participated in a GO Virginia-backed project. In a JLARC survey of local economic development staff, 77% of respondents thought GO Virginia had improved regional collaboration.

GO Virginia projects have had positive impacts that might not have occurred without grants from the program, according to JLARC, and the majority of GO Virginia projects would probably have not moved forward without the program, or would have moved forward more slowly or on a smaller scale.

However, GO Virginia’s overall economic impact can’t be determined because project outcomes aren’t reliably reported, according to the report. Projects self-report outcomes, and some project teams claimed outcomes that were not directly caused by their projects.

Reasons for that are that some project leads were inexperienced in economic development or grant reporting, and regional council staff were not consistently verifying reported outcomes. Also, some metrics set by DHCD remain too broad to be helpful, like a “jobs created/filled” measure that merges the numbers of new jobs and existing jobs that were filled.

JLARC staff examined a sample of 54 projects and found that only about 10% of the jobs that GO Virginia-funded project teams claimed were created or filled by the projects could be directly attributed to those projects — 1,237 jobs out of the 12,771 jobs reported as project outcomes.

JLARC recommended that:

  • DHCD revise its list of outcome metrics,
  • the GO Virginia statewide board assign responsibility for verifying outcomes to DHCD,
  • and the board should assess long-term impacts past the two-year grant period and determine which information to collect for those assessments.

The review also found that some GO Virginia eligibility and application requirements are unnecessarily restrictive, including the funding match requirements for eligibility. Under state law, GO Virginia initially required matches equal to the grant amount, and by board policy, the total match had to include a local match of $50,000, or 50% of the grant total – whichever was higher.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the GO Virginia board temporarily reduced match requirements to half of the total grant amount and dropped the local match requirement. As a result, more grants were awarded. From FY18 to FY20, only 92 grants were awarded, but under the reduced match requirements from FY21 to FY23, GO Virginia awarded 112 grants. The amounts granted also increased, from $20.6 million to $51 million, and the percent of available grant funds used rose from 47% to 97%.

Although the state has to put up a larger share of funding under the lower match requirements, $4.4 million more outside funding came in.

Additionally, JLARC found that GO Virginia’s administration structure is working, and the program is similar to other state programs but doesn’t duplicate them.

But, GO Virginia funds are going unused, and if changes to restrictive eligibility requirements aren’t made, then the program’s appropriations could be reduced. The program has only used $97 million of the $157 million appropriated to its grant programs from FY18 to FY23, according to JLARC. The General Assembly has recaptured $40 million in unobligated funds, and at the end of FY23, $27 million remained unobligated.

John ‘Dubby’ Wynne dies at 78

John O. “Dubby” Wynne only had one setting: giving 110%.

He didn’t know how to do any less than that, even after years as a successful media executive who helped launch The Weather Channel, the 24-hour cable weather news channel. Instead of slowing down after his retirement as president and CEO after 27 years working for Landmark Communications, he continued to make waves in Hampton Roads and the commonwealth, co-founding statewide economic development initiative GO Virginia.

Wynne died Wednesday at 78 following an illness. His survivors include his wife of 50 years, Susan, as well as two children and six grandchildren.

Frank Batten Jr., whose family owned Landmark Communications, credits Wynne with The Weather Channel’s success. Landmark, which had interests in newspapers such as The Virginian-Pilot and The Roanoke Times, and broadcasting, cable programming and digital publishing. Wynne joined Landmark in 1974 and served on its board for years after his 2001 retirement. In an interview with the Syndeo Institute at the Cable Center, he talked about the ways Frank Batten Sr., his late mentor, built the media corporation by finding new opportunities each decade, including as an early cable television pioneer and investing in community newspapers, The Weather Channel and digital publishing. 

“The biggest thing is that [Wynne] was the true founder of The Weather Channel,” said Frank Batten Jr., chairman of Dominion Enterprises and president of the Landmark Foundation. “Dubby Wynne was the person who really made it happen. The Weather Channel would not have been successful without his ideas and drive and determination and conviction that it would be successful.” 

The Weather Channel was started by Landmark Communications in 1982, and Wynne led the sale of it to NBC Universal for $3.5 billion in 2008. Wynne received the NCTA Vanguard Award for Programmers and the Governor’s Award from the National Academy of Cable Programming in 1997 for “his leadership and insight in making The Weather Channel the preeminent provider of weather information, and one of the most innovative and popular networks on television.” He was inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame in 2016.

“When we launched our service, most people were just laughing at [the 24-hour weather concept],” Wynne said in an interview for his Cable Hall of Fame induction. “Although in some areas like New York City, people already carried an umbrella all the time. In California, they said, ‘I don’t care, it never rains here.’ But we knew from our television and radio experience that weather in most communities was a subject of high interest.”

When Wynne and Landmark executives became aware that the ad-supported broadcasting wasn’t sufficient to support The Weather Channel, he pivoted to charging fees to cable operators to put the channel in the black. “We needed subscriber fees. We showed our finances to the cable operators. It was just a few pennies per subscriber, but getting that done was what made The Weather Channel successful,” he said.

After his retirement, Wynne stayed involved in the business community as a civic leader. In 2006, the National Governor’s Association gave him the First Citizen Award for Distinguished Service to State Government for his role in establishing the Council on Virginia’s Future, an organization that was focused on strategic planning and performance leadership in state government. Later, the CIVIC Leadership Institute in Norfolk presented Wynne its Darden Award for Regional Leadership in 2014.

“He was a visionary, he was an implementer and he could motivate elected officials with his passion for Virginia,” said Barry DuVal, president and CEO of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce. “His vision for cities and counties working along economic boundaries became a passion for his community involvement, and many organizations benefited from his leadership.”

Along with co-founding GO Virginia, a state economic development initiative started in 2014 by business leaders and state officials, he chaired multiple boards promoting regional cooperation, such as Reinvent Hampton Roads and the Hampton Roads Community Foundation. He also served on boards for organizations such as Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters, Junior Achievement of Tidewater, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the United Way of South Hampton Roads and many others. He was also a founding member of Reinvent Hampton Roads, which was launched in 2016 by the Hampton Roads Community Foundation to administer GO Virginia grants for local economic development projects.

DuVal said Wynne was the “driving force behind Virginia building regional economic strategies with private sector leadership.”

Calling Wynne a friend and mentor of the past 10 years, Gov. Glenn Youngkin said in a statement that “Dubby Wynne has left a forever mark on the commonwealth. He dedicated his immense experience and his life to improving economic opportunity and prosperity across Virginia. His heart for philanthropy and his giving spirit truly made a difference in people’s lives.”

And, for Hampton Roads, “Dubby Wynne was a giant in our region,” Bryan K. Stephens, president and CEO of the Hampton Roads Chamber, said in a statement. “He was a man of action, a true impact player who knew how to get things done.  His contributions to the citizens and economy of Hampton Roads are too many to enumerate [in a statement]. Suffice to say ‘Dubby’ will always be synonymous with regional collaboration. His leadership in this region will be sorely missed.”

Nancy Grden, president and CEO of the Hampton Roads Executive Roundtable, said Wynne “had a personal passion for the region and felt the region had so many assets and opportunities it needed to leverage.”

Batten said what made Wynne a great leader was that he was demanding, but people knew he was motivated by working for the betterment of others. 

“Dubby was a visionary leader and passionate advocate for the people and businesses in the Hampton Roads area,” Sentara Health President and CEO Dennis Matheis, co-chair of the Hampton Roads Executive Roundtable, said in a statement. “As a founding member of GO Virginia and Reinvent Hampton Roads, Dubby paved the way for business leaders to come together to think creatively about unlocking the power of the region and all of its collective resources.”

Wynne earned his bachelor’s degree in 1967 from Princeton University, where he later served as a charter trustee for 14 years and as a member of the executive committee of Princeton’s board of trustees. He earned his law degree from the University of Virginia in 1971 and later served on U.Va.’s board for eight years, including a term as rector. After law school, he was an attorney for Willcox & Savage before he went to work for Landmark in 1974, where he served as the company’s general counsel and was general manager of KNTV in San Jose, California. By 1980, he was head of the company’s broadcasting and video division and was responsible for new business development. He eventually worked his way up to president and CEO. Landmark Communications later spun off Landmark Media Enterprises, which formerly owned The Virginian-Pilot and The Roanoke Times newspapers.

Wynne was often consulted as a regional leader. 

“He could work at a strategic level and a very personal level to encourage all of us to lean into it,” Grden said, adding that Wynne supported young talent and cultivating a new generation of leaders in Hampton Roads. “It’s hard to replicate someone who can do that, someone who has vision but knows it takes people at the ground level to make this stuff happen. He was very interested in incorporating more innovation in our region.”

Wynne’s work, Matheis said, “ultimately led to the creation of the Hampton Roads Executive Roundtable, passing the baton to the next generation of business leaders in the community. Our regional growth can be directly connected to his work, and it is up to all of us to continue his legacy.”

Wynne was incoming board chairman for the Hampton Roads Community Foundation in 2012, when Debbie DiCroce became the foundation’s president and CEO. “He’s that rare visionary leader who understood the importance of strategic execution,” she said. “There’s not much that matters that he hasn’t touched in some fashion or another in advancing the vision of the thriving community with opportunity for everyone.” 

Hampton Roads — and by extension, the commonwealth — is stronger region because of his leadership, she said.

“Of course, the challenge for all of us is to pick up the baton and carry on.”

Virginia Business Editor Richard Foster contributed to this story.

Nurse training partnership to help with instructor shortages

Shenandoah University, Valley Health and the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association have teamed up to tackle the Shenandoah Valley region’s nursing shortage by creating a program that can be replicated statewide.

Called NextGen Nurses, the program will use semi-retired and retiring nurses as preceptors — experienced licensed clinicians who serve as teachers and coaches — to supervise SU’s Eleanor Wade Custer School of Nursing students during their clinical rotations.

“There is an extreme nursing shortage in the Shenandoah Valley and across the country, and all schools of nursing are affected by their inability to achieve the required clinical hours due to the shortage of preceptors,” says Lisa Levinson, the school’s acting dean.

About 100,000 registered nurses left the nationwide workforce over the past two years due to stress, burnout and retirements, according to a National Council of State Boards of Nursing study. Nonprofit health system Valley Health needs 100 to 150 nurses annually to fill vacancies at its hospitals, practices and urgent care systems in the northern Shenandoah Valley and parts of West Virginia, says the health system’s chief nursing executive, Theresa Trivette.

“What we heard from our frontline teams is, ‘We want more nurses, but we’re really struggling with the time commitment it takes to train them,’” Trivette says, so she and Levinson sought a solution. They discovered that semi-retired and retiring nurses are used as preceptors in several states. So, with VHHA’s help, they received a matching $496,000 grant to create NextGen Nurses from the state’s GO Virginia economic development initiative.

SU also collaborated with Valley Health to develop free online training modules for nurses who want to become preceptors. It also added equipment to its simulation lab, where students can complete a quarter of their 500 required clinical hours. This helps reduce the need for preceptors and clinical training sites.

Valley Health’s goal is to hire 35 nurses who’ve completed the modules as part-time preceptors at $40 an hour. It’s already hired two. Each preceptor will support two students at a time but will work with multiple two-student groups throughout the year.

“We assign them students that they are then married to, if you will, for the entirety of their clinical rotation with us,” Trivette says, “so they get the value of their experience as well as the mentorship of the same person and not whoever might be working that day.” 

Va. launching semiconductor workforce initiative

The commonwealth is launching a Virginia Alliance for Semiconductor Technology to foster a semiconductor industry workforce, funding its establishment with a $3.3 million Growth and Opportunity for Virginia (GO Virginia) grant.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced the initiative Friday. In March, GO Virginia announced the $3.3 million grant to the program, then called the Virginia Nanotechnology Networked Infrastructure.

“Virginia is stepping up to lead the way by investing in key initiatives that will deliver STEM talent to a robust and growing workforce across the commonwealth,” he said in a statement. “Together, our private and public sector partnerships will create new opportunities in semiconductors, microelectronics and nanotechnology to drive critically important economic sectors and technology leadership.”

Virginia Tech will lead VAST, which will bring industry and university partners together to create “workforce development opportunities and expand access to cleanrooms, labs and equipment for training” and research and development, according to a news release. VAST will be headquartered at the Virginia Tech Research Center – Arlington, with other university partners — University of Virginia, George Mason University, Virginia Commonwealth University, Norfolk State University and Northern Virginia Community College — establishing nodes.

“Virginia is a great home for chips, microelectronics and technology,” Virginia Tech Professor Masoud Agah, founding director of VAST, said in a statement. “There is a lot we can do regionally, and together we can do a lot more. This alliance leverages our collective strengths and mobilizes partners throughout the state.”

VAST will create three 10-week Fast Track to Semiconductor Careers certificate programs: Chip Fabrication and Nano Characterization, Semiconductor Packaging and Characterization, and Semiconductor Equipment Maintenance and Repair. The initiative expects to enroll about 300 students per year, with veterans and underserved communities receiving preference, beginning in spring 2024. During the two-year grant period, VAST aims to train 600 adult learners, award 550 certificates and create up to 100 internships.

The alliance will have a cloud-based system to allow schools to share information and online training modules about new equipment and emerging technology with faculty and staff.

Virginia Innovation Partnership Corp. will collaborate with VAST to provide early-stage venture capital investment through its Virginia Venture Partners equity funds. VIPC will also offer grants for entrepreneur-in-residence, faculty R&D and lab equipment through the Commonwealth Commercialization Fund.

A study from George Mason University’s Center for Regional Analysis estimates that the program will produce more than $65 million in economic activity in five years.

Virginia Tech is no stranger to semiconductor workforce development. The university is one of 21 founding members of the Northeast University Semiconductor Network formed by Idaho-based Micron Technology Inc. and announced in early April. The Micron Foundation and National Science Foundation plan to jointly invest $10 million to fund and develop semiconductor curricula for colleges and universities.

Micron’s 2019 expansion of its manufacturing lab in Manassas was the largest economic development deal in Virginia’s history, with a more than $3 billion investment and more than 1,000 new jobs expected by 2030.

Virginia has been seeking semiconductor manufacturing plants as an economic development strategy, particularly following the passage of the CHIPS and Science Act, which includes $52.7 billion in funding for domestic semiconductor manufacturing and research. U.S. Sen. Mark Warner and state and local development officials met in August 2022 to discuss attracting facilities to four industrial sites in the state.

“Strong university partnerships, strategic programs and an ongoing talent pipeline are critical to be competitive in recruiting in this industry,” Virginia Economic Development Partnership President and CEO Jason Koubi said in a statement. “VAST will be a distinctive and compelling asset to market as we continue to aggressively pursue this dynamic and growing sector.”

Youngkin’s announcement precedes his first international trade trip, beginning Monday, during which he will promote Virginia as “the best place for the semiconductor and microelectronics ecosystem to thrive,” according to a news release. Youngkin plans to meet with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on the trip.

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.

Farmville SEED hub seeks to grow innovation

Luther Cifers launched fishing equipment company YakAttack LLC in 2009 out of his friend’s basement, and he moved to the garage to create prototypes of its gear. Now, he is putting in work so future entrepreneurs will have a dedicated space for their projects.

The Farmville SEED Innovation Hub, slated to open in late fall, is a 10,000-square-foot business accelerator and training space that would replace a vacant Barnes & Noble book store in Midtown Square. Construction is pending approval from the U.S. Economic Development Administration to move forward with bidding.

“My vision for this thing is something that would have been useful for us in the early days,” says Cifers, whose background is in engineering and design.

A partnership between Longwood University and Hampden-Sydney College, SEED sprouted from a collaboration between Longwood’s Office of Economic and Community Development, GO Virginia and Mid-Atlantic Broadband Inc. on an entrepreneurship and innovation investment strategy in 2019. It is funded with $1.9 million from the federal American Rescue Plan Act, $674,304 from GO Virginia, $500,000 from the Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission and $375,000 from the Longwood Real Estate Foundation. The hub is expected to create 60 jobs, retain 159 jobs and generate about $5 million in private investment.

One of the gaps the groups identified in the region was the availability of entrepreneurial spaces that have makerspace capabilities, innovation labs and “tools and resources for everyone K through 12, on up to collegiate and community,” says Sheri McGuire, executive director of Longwood’s Small Business Development Center.

Among the hub’s offerings will be 3-D printers, entrepreneurial bootcamps, pitch competitions and idea summits. Other details, including how Cifers plans to help, are still in the works.

Farmville’s hub also will complement South Boston’s SOVA Innovation Hub, which opened in 2020 and offers a co-working space and has a makerspace in preliminary planning stages. Both facilities represent a change in the regions’ economic focus.

“If Southern Virginia is going to transform its economy and create wealth [and] create household income, it has to look to other ways of creating opportunity,” says Bryan David, program director of GO Virginia Region 3, which spans 13 counties and includes Danville and Martinsville. “Entrepreneurship is, frankly, one of those ways that a lot of rural regions have found success.”

Four Va. businesses to receive flood solutions funding

Four Virginia-based small businesses focused on coastal resiliency and flooding will receive funding to develop their products, Norfolk-based nonprofit RISE Resilience Innovations announced Thursday.

Divided between rural and urban projects, there were eight winning projects, with the other four based in North Carolina. More than 70 projects were submitted. The urban winners will receive up to $300,000, and the rural up to $200,000 in funds and services to support the development of their solutions to sea level rise and flooding, which they will test in coastal Virginia. Winners will also receive technical, government and business mentoring; investor matchmaking; customized accelerator training and ongoing support.

“These winning businesses represent some of the most innovative thinking in climate adaptation,” RISE Executive Director Paul Robinson said in a statement. “By providing one-stop shop resources to expedite their success, RISE provides the cutting-edge tools our own region needs to address climate challenges now, and a launchpad to help other coastal communities faster.”

Urban challenge winners will receive grants and loans to address coastal cities’ needs, such as re-establishing critical utilities after severe weather events and preventing tidal back flow in Hampton Roads cities’ stormwater systems. The two Virginia-based winners of the urban coastal challenge are:

  • Independence Hydrogen Inc. Based in Ashburn, Independence Hydrogen provides gaseous hydrogen for fuel cell uses. It will test a distribution system that would provide cities with emergency alternative backup power supplies.
  • InfraSGA Inc., headquartered in Norfolk, provides bio-retention solutions for stormwater management issues. The company will be fine-tuning its business model and preparing for market launch.

This was the first year that RISE offered a rural coastal challenge, in which it partnered with the Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission and Virginia Sea Grant and received GO Virginia funding for winners, which will receive up to $200,000 to develop solutions like septic system redesigns and repurposing dredge materials. Winners will also receive support from regional community colleges and universities and the chance to test and develop their products on dedicated Middle Peninsula Chesapeake Bay Public Access Authority properties and buildings.

The two rural Virginia winners are:

  • Biogenic Solutions Consulting LLC, based in Newport News, which provides consulting on restoration, mitigation and biogenic shoreline reef management. The company will test a new method of upcycling dredge materials.
  • Virginia Beach-based Home Mechanix helps residents mitigate home flooding hazards and repair damage afterward. The company will be testing a crawl space moisture barrier to protect homes from flood damage.

With support from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, RISE has launched six challenges and provided more than $5 million to more than 30 businesses since 2018. Winners of the RISE urban and rural challenges join more than 20 RISE-funded pilot projects underway, including sensors that collect stormwater system capacity data and using Waze to re-route drivers in real time to avoid flooded roads.

SWVA initiative seeks to attract remote workers

Project Fuse, a regional cooperative initiative to make Southwest Virginia the location of choice for remote employment, launched Friday with the release of a playbook to attract businesses.

“The global business community seeks options for both attracting the employees they want and managing their operating costs,” Will Payne, managing partner of Coalfield Strategies LLC and campaign lead for InvestSWVA, said in a statement. “Companies need rural community partners who can help them with teleworking and remote working, as Project Fuse explains.”

The Lonesome Pine Regional Industrial Facilities Authority (LPRIF) commissioned the playbook — developed over the last four months — with support from the state’s GO Virginia economic development initiative and the U.S. Economic Development Administration. InvestSWVA brought project members together.

“The global pandemic accelerated more than a workplace shift and the remote work opportunity,” Duane Miller, executive director of the LENOWISCO Planning District Commission, chief sponsor of the project, said in a statement. “It has opened a new door into diversifying our economy in Virginia’s Southwest. Given the quality of life we can offer and the support our economic development teams can provide to companies, we commissioned a look into how to match our assets to the opportunity.”

The report includes case studies like Rochester, New York-based medical records company eHealth Technologies Inc.’s establishment of a hub location in Duffield in 2020. Company management has reported lower turnover and higher levels of satisfaction among its area employees in the area. The partnership between Mountain Empire Community College and eHealth Technologies that provides the company tailored training processes also contributed to the location’s success, according to the report.

The study identified four opportunities for LPRIFA localities, which include the city of Norton and the counties of Dickenson, Lee, Scott and Wise.

  1. Employers are offering support for living remotely and using coworking spaces.
  2. Companies’ real estate needs have changed.
  3. Customer service via teleworkers is growing in sophistication and pay scales.
  4. Companies are looking for partnerships with communities to find and retain quality employees as they compete in a tight labor market.

To take advantage of these opportunities, localities need to meet several conditions: ubiquitous internet connectivity and reliable transportation networks; downtown office buildings with meeting space; affordable, diverse housing options in walkable areas; and an established network with academic partners.

As part of meeting those conditions, localities need to develop their downtowns and deliver universal internet connectivity ahead of schedule, the playbook states.

InvestSWVA is a public-private business research, attraction and marketing campaign launched under the umbrella of the Virginia Tobacco Revitalization Commission, which was created by the General Assembly in 1999 to promote economic growth and development in formerly tobacco-dependent communities.

Startup Virginia to host Idea Factory workshop

Richmond-based nonprofit business incubator Startup Virginia is hosting its fifth Idea Factory — a six-week, largely virtual program to help aspiring entrepreneurs test, improve and validate their business ideas — from Feb. 28 to April 4.

The program focuses on technology-driven or manufacturing-based business ideas and starts with an onboarding meeting before moving into five weeks of product discovery. Participants end with plans and free resources to move forward. Thanks to a recent $250,000 GO Virginia grant and a $25,000 grant from the Community Foundation for a greater Richmond, participants will not have to pay the $500 program fee.

“I don’t want to understate how important it is to say your idea and to get your idea out there for other people to touch, and that’s what they had us do in the program,” said fall 2020 participant Philip Deng, who is now the co-founder and CEO of Grantable.

Deng moved to Richmond in March 2020, and traditional methods of community building were unavailable because of the pandemic. Idea Factory provided him with a sense of community, and he still sees friends he made in the program.

“It’s really just how I got plugged into this community,” Deng said. “It’s been enormously helpful. I just wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing today without their help.”

Deng started with the idea to offer a grant-writing software tool, but adjusted his plan based on feedback. On Monday, Grantable will open its marketplace for organizations to connect with grant writers.

Idea Factory facilitators helped Deng and his fellow participants figure out how to meet with potential customers and professionals in fields relevant to their business ideas and to get feedback, he said. Facilitators helped them create a list of people to contact, provided tools and phrasing for contacting them and assisted them in structuring interviews and taking notes.

The program also provided direction for using the information gained in interviews, like how to quantify the qualitative feedback received — for example, sending surveys to those interviewed asking them to rate the problems they identified.

Applications are due Feb. 1. The program requires one in-person workshop at the Startup Virginia office on March 21.

Southwest Va. project will help manufacturers enter wind energy supply chain

Public-private campaign InvestSWVA announced Tuesday the launch of an economic development initiative designed to help Southwest Virginia manufacturers find entry points in the supply chain for wind energy equipment components.

The initiative, called Project Veer, will connect Southwest Virginia manufacturers with industry experts, public sector partners, the Hampton Roads Alliance, Dominion Energy Inc., Appalachian Power and GO Virginia Region One’s economic and workforce development organizations.

Construction on Dominion’s 2.6-gigawatt Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project will begin in 2024. Dominion plans to build the 180 wind-turbine farm 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach. Two turbines have been built as pilots.

“Dominion Energy Virginia is actively engaging business communities to bring offshore wind supply chain economic opportunities to all regions of the commonwealth,” John Larson, Dominion Energy director of public policy and economic development, said in a statement. “We look forward to working with Project Veer to tap into the strong manufacturing legacy of Southwest Virginia to help the region capitalize on the growing wind energy industry.”

Project Veer builds on recommendations from a study conducted by the Hampton Roads Alliance that exposed gaps in the supply chain and defined how manufacturers could fill them. The alliance worked with Aberdeen, Scotland-based energy consulting firm Xodus Group Ltd., which is part of the project team, and Carlsbad, California-based BW Research Partnership to assess the offshore wind supply chain and conduct a gap analysis for the Hampton Roads metropolitan area and Southern Virginia.

“Renewable energy developers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) need partners who produce quality components and deliver them on time,” Will Payne, managing partner of Coalfield Strategies and project lead for InvestSWVA, said in a statement. “We have partners who fit this bill in Virginia’s Southwest. Now we have some infrastructure to help them explore their entry into the burgeoning wind energy market, while leveraging the energy industry experience many of them already possess.”

The project received funding from the GO Virginia Region One Council, the Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission and Coalfield Strategies.

InvestSWVA is a public-private business research, attract and marketing campaign launched under the umbrella of the Virginia Tobacco Revitalization Commission, a 28-member body created by the General assembly in 1999 to promote economic growth and development in tobacco-dependent communities using proceeds of the national tobacco settlement.