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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 […]
Virginia Council of CEOs expands to Roanoke
The Virginia Council of CEOs, a Richmond-based nonprofit serving small and midsize business owners, has expanded to Roanoke, it announced last week. The organization has launched its first CEO peer roundtable in the Roanoke market and expects to form a second group shortly. About a year ago, the council announced plans to expand statewide. More […]
Plastics equipment manufacturer to reopen Pulaski facility
Plastics industry equipment manufacturer Xaloy Holdings LLC will move its barrel manufacturing operation from Ohio back to Virginia, reopening its former facility in Pulaski County, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Thursday. Xaloy will invest $1.75 million in its 100,000-square-foot, 30-acre site in Pulaski to produce bimetallic barrels, which are formed by bonding metal linings to the […]
A growing legacy
Since his selection as president of Radford University five years ago, Brian Hemphill has fulfilled the mission he set when he was hired: to increase fundraising and open channels to boost enrollment. During Hemphill’s tenure, he has seen the university reach record enrollment numbers and grow its endowment by $20 million. But all things must […]
Roanoke, New River Valley organizations form tech alliance
The Valleys Innovation Council (VIC), the Roanoke-Blacksburg Technology Council (RBTC) and the Regional Accelerator and Mentoring Program (RAMP) have formed an alliance called Verge. In July 2020, the three groups announced they were developing the alliance, which is aimed at supporting the region’s technologists, innovators and entrepreneurs. VIC focuses on research commercialization and [...]
Six SWVA projects receive ARC funding
More than $3.9 million in funding will go toward recovery health programs, broadband infrastructure expansion, workforce development, natural gas line improvements and rural tourism and job growth efforts in Southwest Virginia, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Monday. The funding will be disbursed through six Appalachian Regional Commission’s (ARC) Partnership for Opportunity and Workforce and E[...]
