Aquaculture proves big catch for region
A Russell County native and a Singapore-based asset management firm are about to turn a corner of Virginia’s coalfields into an aquaculture center. Jake Musick’s Riverbound Trout Farms is building a processing plant in Russell County. Musick expects to begin shipping fish this fall. About a quarter mile away, straddling the [...]
Va. community clinics receive $79M in federal funding
U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine announced Friday that 26 community clinics in Virginia will receive $79 million in funding through the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan federal stimulus package. Warner also introduced legislation this week to support other community clinics — most run by health systems in the state’[...]
Primland resort appoints executive chef
Primland announced Tuesday that Elliot Cunniff has been appointed executive chef of the Meadows of Dan resort. Cunniff comes to Primland from The Soho House, an upscale private club in New York City where he served as executive chef. He got his start working with culinary celebrity Daniel Boulud’s db Bistro Moderne in New York[...]
Va. allocates $20M for broadband infrastructure projects
Seventeen localities statewide are receiving $20.1 million in grants to improve broadband internet infrastructure, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Thursday. The funding will support 11 projects that will connect 13,400 customers, the governor’s office said in a news release. The localities — primarily in rural areas — are receiving funding through the Virginia Telecommunication Initiative (VATI), […][...]
Health Wagon receives COVID-19 vaccine doses after wait
A little more than a month after The Health Wagon’s director went on national television and said the Wise County-based free clinic system hadn’t received COVID-19 vaccine doses, it has now vaccinated 325 people in the past two weeks. In a news release Thursday, The Health Wagon President and CEO Teresa Tyson thanked[...]
Tempur Sealy to invest $16.7M in Scott County manufacturing facility
Bedding product designer, manufacturer and distributor Tempur Sealy International Inc. will invest $16.7 million to expand its Scott County operation, creating 25 jobs, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Thursday. “Southwest Virginia has been an ideal base of operations for Tempur Sealy for nearly 20 years because of the region’s proximity to major interstates and access to […]
SW Va. aims to attract data centers via regional tax pact
As part of an effort to entice data centers to locate in the region, Southwest Virginia leaders announced Tuesday a joint agreement to set what will be Virginia’s lowest regional property tax rate on data center equipment. The localities comprising the Lonesome Pine Regional Industrial Facilities Authority — Dickenson, Lee, [...]
Regional reboot
Public and private investments are boosting the economy in Southwest Virginia, bringing in a diversified group of new companies, from indoor salmon farming to medical information technology firms — as well as a long-awaited casino. Addressing the region’s steady decline in the coal industry, officials in the Southwestern reg[...]
Payout on a dream
“Get it done!” Those three words sent Jason Eige and Martin Kent on a mission to bring a casino to Bristol Mall before commercial gaming resorts were even legal in Virginia. Eige, general counsel for The United Co., and Kent, the oil and gas company’s president and chief operating officer, vividly remember the day th[...]
Textiles startup opening Buchanan County sewing factory
Local textiles manufacturing startup Maine Five is opening a sewing factory at Buchanan County’s Council Industrial Park building. Investing $350,000 in the 17,211-square-foot factory space, the company is immediately hiring 12 workers and has plans to employ to 100 total workers by 2026. Founded in 2020, Maine Five manufa[...]
Appalachian Power issues RFP for solar, wind projects
Appalachian Power Co. on Monday issued a request for proposals (RFPs) for up to 300 megawatts of solar and/or wind generation resources. This is the first in a string of RFPs that the company will issue this year to comply with the Virginia Clean Economy Act, which requires that the company achieve 100% carbon-free energy […]
Health Wagon says it hasn’t received COVID-19 vaccine doses
The head of The Health Wagon, the Wise County-based free clinic system that serves more than 5,600 patients in Southwest Virginia, many with medical vulnerabilities, said in a Thursday interview on “CBS This Morning” that the clinic has not received any COVID-19 vaccine doses from the state government. According to t[...]