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Mountain Empire Community College

Owen Swinney completed the Solar Workforce Accelerator program in July, earning credit hours toward an associate degree. Photo by Earl Neikirk
Aug 29, 2022

Accelerating the solar workforce

When local school systems decided to add solar arrays to their buildings, regional environmental nonprofit Appalachian Voices and other members of the Solar Workgroup of Southwest Virginia counted it as a victory in their six-year efforts to develop a renewable energy cluster in Virginia’s coalfield counties. In January, Southwest Virginia Community College and Mountain Empire […]

Mar 30, 2022

SW community colleges to create wind manufacturing workforce

The presidents of four community colleges in Southwest Virginia signed a memorandum of understanding Wednesday to establish a wind manufacturing workforce development partnership. “Today’s MOU signing is meaningful because it demonstrates our resident and abiding interest in collaborating. Our four community college presidents are setting an example of how to find ways to work together[...]

Mar 16, 2022

Coal waste project launches in SW Va.

A public-private project to evaluate the critical minerals in coal waste products in Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky launched Wednesday with a community meeting in the Virginia Highlands Small Business Incubator in Abingdon. The project, Evolve Central Appalachia (Evolve CAPP), is part of an almost $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Energy Department to the […]

Will Payne, director of InvestSWVA and managing partner of Coalfield Strategie, says Southwest Virginia’s solar and geothermal assets make it a good fit for data centers.
Mar 2, 2021

SW Va. aims to attract data centers via regional tax pact

As part of an effort to entice data centers to locate in the region, Southwest Virginia leaders announced Tuesday a joint agreement to set what will be Virginia’s lowest regional property tax rate on data center equipment. The localities comprising the Lonesome Pine Regional Industrial Facilities Authority — Dickenson, Lee, Scott and Wise counties and […]

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