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Richmond-Petersburg pharma coalition wins fed designation
Central Virginia’s pharmaceutical hub received a federal designation that could lead to millions in federal funding in the future, while a 3D printing consortium in the New River Valley and Danville won a $500,000 federal grant, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced Monday. A group of public and private sector partners conducting pharmaceutical research and […]
FloydFest cancelation causes economic ripples
FloydFest, a five-day celebration showcasing more than 100 performers, has had an annual regional economic impact of about $4 million since its 2002 founding, according to festival organizers. Even so, county officials and local business owners seem to be taking a “c’est la vie” attitude to the cancelation in April of this year’s FloydFest, which […]
Growing the talent pool
For tech worker Courtney Proffitt, summer 2020 was a transformative time. After roughly a decade away from her native Virginia, she found herself in an Airbnb rental on the outskirts of downtown Roanoke. “I was ready to try a new city after 10 years in Charleston,” recalls Proffitt, who earned her master’s degree from the […]
Goodwill of the Valleys names philanthropy exec
Donna Stucker is the new chief philanthropy officer for Goodwill Industries of the Valleys. Stucker assumed her role April 3, according to a news release. She will lead a new capital campaign and associated donor development and will plan and manage an effort to grow donations for the Roanoke-based Goodwill chapter, which serves 35 counties […]
Sweet valley high
For Paul Mahoney, chair of the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors, the past year has stood out for bringing an “explosion of development” to the county. Home improvement retailer Lowe’s Cos. Inc. opened a new distribution center. North American Specialty Laminations LLC established a mid-Atlantic production facility. And Würth Revcar Fasteners Inc. began work on […]
NY foundation invests $10M in Appalachian Community Capital
Appalachian Community Capital, a Christiansburg-based community development financial institution that provides capital for small businesses across the Appalachian region, will receive an additional $10 million investment in the form of a low-interest loan from the Ford Foundation, the New York-based nonprofit announced Wednesday. The Ford Foundation initially invested $3 million in ACC in 2015. A[...]
Radford Army plant contract extended through 2026
While the contract extension for operation of the sprawling Radford Army Ammunition Plant is reassuring from an economic development perspective, it also has sentimental value to the community. “The Radford Army Ammunition Plant means a lot to our BAE Systems workforce, but also to the generations of families in our community that have kept the […]
Manchin hits gas on Mountain Valley Pipeline
First proposed in 2014, the 303-mile, $6.6 billion Mountain Valley Pipeline has seen its construction progress delayed time and time again by federal courts, regulators and environmentalists. Indeed, MVP has faced so many setbacks that NextEra Energy Inc. said in February it was reevaluating its investment in the natural gas pipeline, citing “a very low […]
Generation next
There’s a new wave of “super collaborators” driving economic development in the Roanoke and New River valleys. Many of the top positions in the region‘s public and private sector economic development engines have turned over in the past couple of years. In multiple cases, individuals who had held positions for decades decided to retire or […]
FOR THE RECORD
Central Virginia The state’s fiscal 2023-24 budget, approved June 1, contains funding that will benefit future redevelopment of the Central Virginia Training Center site in Madison Heights. Republican Sen. Steve Newman requested $25 million in state money to annul outstanding bonds associated with CVTC, a former state facility for people with intellectual disabilities that closed […[...]
Compounding interest
The Roanoke Valley enjoyed a constant stream of nibbles from prospective corporations considering the area in 2021, according to John Hull, executive director of the Roanoke Regional Partnership, which promotes development in four counties and three cities. “I don’t think we’ve ever been this busy in terms of interest and activity,” Hull says. “It’s just […]
Radford University chooses new president
Radford University’s eighth president will be Bret S. Danilowicz, who’s currently serving as the provost and vice president for academic affairs at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida. Danilowicz, who starts his tenure at Radford on July 1, 2022, succeeds Brian O. Hemphill, who left in June to become president of Old Dominion University […]
