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Theater renovations draw downtown visitors
Before her August performance at Marion’s historic Lincoln Theatre, country singer Lorrie Morgan took an afternoon stroll downtown, stopping at shops and the local farmers market, according to Tracy Thompson, the theater’s director. Drawing visitors — famous and otherwise — to downtown Marion was the goal back in 2004 when the community raised more than […]
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 […]
Chesterfield-based Paymerang expands to Wise County
Chesterfield County-based payment and invoice automation company Paymerang LLC will expand its operations to Southwest Virginia, creating 50 jobs in Wise, the company announced Thursday. The move follows a previous expansion of its Chesterfield County headquarters. In Wise, employees will work in software development, cloud engineering and payment operations. Paymerang is the second company to jo[...]
Southwest Va. builds outdoor rec centers
Southwest Virginia has two new centers welcoming outdoor adventurists and another on the way. With a grand opening set for August, the $1.5 million Back of the Dragon Welcome Center opened in Tazewell in May 2020. In Coeburn, Spearhead Trails opened a 22,000-square-foot activity center in its renovated Coeburn headquarters last year. And the $2.67 […]
On a mission
Virginia Business’ 2022 Virginia CFO of the Year award winners represent large and small businesses and large and small nonprofits. Small nonprofit | David Argabright, CFO Feeding Southwest Virginia, Salem David Argabright’s background in construction came in handy when Feeding Southwest Virginia opened its Community Solutions Center in a high-crime, poverty-stricken area of Roanoke.[...]
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 […]
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 […[...]
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 […]
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 […]
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[...]
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 […]
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. […]
