For the Record – Southern Virginia, May 2013

After a promising start in 2009, ownership of the Advanced Vehicle Research Center was scheduled to change hands after an auction at the end of April. According to Danville Circuit Court documents, BB&T Collateral Services Corp. loaned the company $1.6 million in 2008 and has foreclosed on the loan. The 15,663-square-foot building sits on almost 14 acres at 500 Stinson Drive. The building has 16 office and showroom spaces and five warehouse bays. The tax assessed value of the property is $1.08 million. (Danville Register & Bee)

Danville may be one step closer to building a new industrial park on Gypsum Road — if the second phase of an archaeological evaluation of the site is accepted by the state Department of Historic Research. The site has an old graveyard as well as some building foundations on it that are believed to be remnants of a plantation house built by Thomas Fearn — one of the original trustees of the town of Danville — in the late 1700s. Fearn died in 1805 and his family soon moved to other parts of the country. (Danville Register & Bee)

Danville Community College has become a part of the newly formed Virginia Horseshoe Initiative, a statewide effort encouraging more people to get a college education. The initiative involves 18 community colleges in rural parts of Virginia stretching from the Eastern Shore through Southern and Southwest Virginia and up the Shenandoah Valley — geographically forming a horseshoe. (WorkItSoVa.com)

Danville Regional Medical Center opened the Danville Regional Vein Center to address the needs of men and women with varicose veins. Varicose veins affect half of the people over age 50 and can start earlier, for example, after pregnancy in women. (WorkItSoVa.com)

Huber Engineered Woods of Crystal Hill was named Business of the Year at the Halifax County Chamber of Commerce annual meeting and awards banquet. The Crystal Hill mill opened in 1995. It produces a variety of engineered wood products, such as AdvanTech flooring, sheathing and rim board and Structural Insulated Panels.  (The Gazette-Virginian)

Molliver Vineyards & Winery’s Vidal Blanc wine from Halifax County has been approved by the Commonwealth Quality Alliance (CQA) program. The CQA logo is a seal of approval and denotes which wines are 100 percent grown, produced and bottled in Virginia. The Vidal Blanc wine also received a medal in the 2013 Governor’s Cup competition. (WorkItSoVa.com)

The Southern Virginia Regional Alliance (SVRA), a regional marketing partnership, will run out of funds in June if new sources of money are not found. The alliance markets Southern Virginia to companies and site-selection consultants looking for new locations.  Leigh Cockram, SVRA’s executive director, said she is optimistic the alliance will be able to obtain funds to operate past June. She indicated that the Virginia Tobacco Commission may be approached for another allocation. She did not know how economic development efforts would be affected if the alliance has to dissolve. (Martinsville Bulletin)