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Tag: Southern Virginia Regional Alliance

Hand-built electric classic sports cars to be built in Danville

RBW Sports & Classics, a United Kingdom manufacturer of hand-built electric vehicles that have designs inspired by British sports cars from the 1960s and 1970s, plans to invest $8 million to establish a manufacturing facility at Cane Creek Centre in Danville, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Thursday. 

The project is expected to create 144 jobs. Those workers will produce RBW’s first left-hand drive, electric Roadster and GT models for the U.S. market. 

Peter Swain founded the company — which is named after his children, Rose, Becs and Wesley — in 2017. 

“Already selling in Europe, Asia and even Bermuda, the new facility in Virginia supports RBW’s entry to the U.S. market,” Swain, who is CEO, said in a statement. 

RBW delivered its first cars in 2022 and opened its first factory in the United Kingdom in 2023. The company currently manufactures electric Roadster and GT models, and its electric vehicle architecture and systems can be installed under other body shells.

The company unveiled its left-hand drive Roadster and GT models at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in California, which ran from Aug. 15 to Aug. 18. Starting prices for RBW cars run between $139,000 to $151,000.

In July, Swain, who previously worked in security systems, was featured in a Financial Times article about whether the United Kingdom’s Labour Party should develop an industrial strategy. In the article, Swain noted more incentives are available in the United States for business owners. “We can get so much help everywhere — apart from in our own backyard,” he told the Financial Times.

The Cane Creek Centre is jointly owned by the City of Danville and Pittsylvania County. The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Pittsylvania County, the City of Danville, the Danville-Pittsylvania County Regional Industrial Facility Authority and the Southern Virginia Regional Alliance to secure the project for Virginia.

Youngkin approved a $500,000 grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund to assist Danville and Pittsylvania County with this project. The Virginia Jobs Investment Program will also provide funding and services to support employee training activities.

Speyside Bourbon Cooperage to create 40 jobs in Pittsylvania

Speyside Bourbon Cooperage will invest $16.85 million to build a new stave mill in Pittsylvania County’s Brosville Industrial Park, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced last week. 

A U.S. subsidiary of a French company, Speyside Bourbon Cooperage produces staves, or strips of wood, from American White Oak, which are used to make the company’s bourbon barrels.

Pittsylvania County’s stave mill will supply Speyside’s Smyth County cooperage (a facility where workers make barrels). The stave mill is expected to create 40 new jobs and will source 40% of its timber from Virginia landowners, according to the news release. 

Speyside Bourbon Cooperage is a division of Speyside Cooperage, which was founded in 1947 in Scotland. In 2008, the Tonnellerie François Frères Group bought Speyside Cooperage. In the U.S., Speyside has cooperage locations in Shepherdsville, Kentucky; Jackson, Ohio; and Smyth County, Virginia. The Virginia facility opened in 2020.  Additionally, Speyside Bourbon Cooperage opened a stave mill in Bath County in Millboro in 2018 and invested $114,000 in an expansion the following year. In 2020, Speyside opened another stave mill in Glade Spring in Washington County. 

“We never thought we would have four sites in the state, but once we started working here, it became clear that Virginia is the perfect partner for us.” Darren Whitmer, president and general manager of Speyside Bourbon Cooperage, stated in the news release. 

The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services worked with Pittsylvania County, the Pittsylvania County Industrial Development Authority and the Southern Virginia Regional Alliance to win the project. 

Gov. Youngkin approved a $250,000 grant from the Governor’s Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Fund, which Pittsylvania County will match using local funds, according to the news release.  

“The manufacture of high-quality oak staves by Speyside Bourbon Cooperage leverages one of Pittsylvania County’s historic economic drivers – forestry and agriculture – and allows us to operationalize our renewable white oak resource at a much higher level. Also, the construction of this facility will complete the development of the Brosville Industrial Park, providing a clear indication that economic growth remains strong in this area,” Dr. Joey Faucette, chair of the county’s Industrial Development Authority, stated in the news release.