Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Southwest Virginia

Jul 6, 2022

Va. receives $22.7M to reclaim abandoned mine lands

The Virginia Department of Energy will receive $22.7 million in federal funding toward redeveloping abandoned mine lands across the commonwealth, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Wednesday. The funding is aimed at redeveloping the sites so that they can be used to attract new development and job opportunities to the region. Handled through Virginia’s Abandoned Mine Lands […]

Jun 28, 2022

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 […[...]

Smyth County Administrator Shawn Utt is working with Bland and Washington counties to develop an industrial park. Photo by Earl Neikirk
Apr 28, 2022

Counties collaborating on industrial park

In the coming months, the rubble of a demolished furniture factory on a roughly 70-acre property in Chilhowie will be hauled away to make room for an industrial park. Smyth County is teaming up with Bland and Washington counties, forming the Pathway Regional Industrial Facilities Authority to create Pathway Park, which will feature rail service […]

The former Bristol Mall is being converted into a Hard Rock casino and resort hotel, slated for completion by late 2022. Rendering courtesy Friedmutter Group
Apr 4, 2022

Bristol temporary casino to open July 8

Hard Rock International Inc. will open its temporary casino in Bristol July 8, the company announced Thursday. The 30,000-square-foot temporary full-service casino featuring 900 gaming slots and 20 tables for gaming operations will open at 500 Gate City Highway, the former Bristol Mall. It is expected to generate 600 jobs. In February, the casino named […]

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 […]

Internet service provider EarthLink is building a $5.4 million customer support center in Norton, creating 285 jobs. Photo by Earl Niekirk
Feb 27, 2022

Finding new solutions

Movers and shakers in Southwest Virginia wanted to try a new approach to economic development. The stakes were (and are) high. Naturally, the decline of the coal industry had a devastating impact on Virginia’s coalfields. The Appalachian Regional Commission classifies four counties in Southwest Virginia — Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee and Wise — as economically distressed. […]

Feb 18, 2022

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 […]

Workers broke ground in January 2022 on the planned $714 million Blue Star NBR medical glove manufacturing complex in Wythe County's Progress Park. Photo by Earl Neikirk.
Feb 10, 2022

$714M Wythe medical glove plant is solo venture now

Developers broke ground in January on the $714 million medical glove manufacturing complex planned for Wythe County’s Progress Park. Only now it may be a solo project, not a joint venture. In October 2021, then-Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced that Alexandria-based Blue Star NBR LLC was building manufacturing facilities to make nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) […]

Jan 27, 2022

Appalachian Council for Innovation taps exec director

John Bebber has been hired as executive director of the Appalachian Council for Innovation, its board announced earlier in January. He was previously district director for U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Abingdon. ACI is a nonprofit regional economic development organization founded in 1999 as the Southwestern Virginia Technology Council. It includes businesses and organizations in 16 […]

The United Way of Southwest Virginia unveiled its Ready SWVA initiative to 150-plus local leaders at a Dec. 8, 2021, event. Photo courtesy United Way of Southwest Virginia
Dec 31, 2021

United Way launches child care initiative

The gap between the need for child care and its availability and accessibility is nearly three times higher than the state average in Southwest Virginia, where parents lack child care services for more than 7,000 children under age 5, according to a 2019 report from the Bipartisan Policy Center. Child care is not cost-effective for […]

Dec 21, 2021

Homes inventory declined sharply last month in Va.

Virginia’s inventory of homes continues to decline, but buyer demand remains high, according to a report released Tuesday by Virginia Realtors. At the end of November, there were 16,242 active listings across the commonwealth, nearly 25% fewer than the same time last year. The rate of decline in homes on the market slowed down over […]

YOUR NEWS.
YOUR INBOX.
DAILY.

By subscribing you agree to our Privacy Policy.