Shenandoah County takes long view on economic development

Shenandoah County hopes a $100,000 study is an early step toward welcoming new businesses and jobs.

“We know that it takes time to develop property,” Jenna French, the county’s director of tourism and economic development, says. “We are planning for the future.”

The county hired the Timmons Group to identify possible sites for business development. The Richmond-based engineering and design company is working to complete a report by this fall that will list potential properties and possible types of businesses, as well as estimates of return on the county’s investment in infrastructure and other development costs.

The decision to look for sites for growth was spurred by the fact that just 1% of Shenandoah County is zoned for industrial use, according to French. The county is running out of already-identified development sites.

Shenandoah County and its Economic Development Authority split the cost of the study, which is groundwork for development that may not occur for years.

“At this point, it’s exploratory,” Jay Winkfield, chair of the Shenandoah County Economic Development Authority, says.

Beverly Butterfield, another member of the authority, calls the study “a framework that will let us set some priorities.”

Recent announcements included February’s news that Serioplast, an Italian plastics packaging maker, plans to invest $25.7 million and create 45 jobs in Mount Jackson. AD Engineering, a manufacturer of heating, ventilation and air conditioning components, announced in November a $1.2 million expansion, also in Mount Jackson, that will create 25 jobs. Early last year, Logan Foods bought land in Strasburg for a plant that the company said would have about 30 workers when it is built in a few years.

Joe Hines, who leads the Timmons Group’s economic development practice, explains that the study will use the company’s Analytical Data Driven Site Selection tool. It combines GIS data with infrastructure availability, environmental factors, and local input.

Timmons has conducted similar studies for more than 200 localities in the Southeast, according to Hines. Most clients look for sites of at least 100 acres, he wrote in an email.

It’s too early to know what the authority’s next steps will be after the Timmons report is completed, according to Winkfield.

“This is more of an opportunity to see what could be here,” Winkfield says. “Where that will lead us, I’m not sure.”