Virginia Economic Development Partnership launches program for high-potential companies

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership has picked 12 companies to participate in the Virginia Economic Gardening Pilot Program (VEGPP).

These “second-stage” businesses have moved beyond the startup phase by substantially increasing their revenue or employment.

VEDP partnered with the Edward Lowe Foundation, which hosts the National Center for Economic Gardening, on VEGPP. They to set up a statewide network providing each company access to a team of research specialists. The teams will devote approximately 36 hours of assistance to each company.

The program aims to address growth issues, such as identifying new markets and industry trends, refining business models and raising online visibility.

The participating companies are:

Blue Mountain Brewery Inc., Nelson County
Blue Ridge Optics LLC, Bedford County
C2 Management, Clarke County
Clarke Precision Machine, Wytheville
Fulcrum Concepts LLC, King and Queen County
Hepburn and Sons LLC, Manassas
Risk and Strategic Management Corp., Manassas
R&K Cyber Solutions LLC, Manassas
Salatin & Cloud LC, Harrisonburg
SanAir Technologies Laboratory Inc., Powhatan County
Solid Stone Fabrics Inc., Martinsville
VistaShare LLC, Harrisonburg

To be eligible for the VEGPP, applicants were required to meet the following criteria:

·         Be a for-profit, privately held company that has been in business for at least five years and maintained its principal place of business in Virginia for at least two years
·         Generate annual revenue of $1 million to $50 million
·         Employ 10 to 99 full-time-equivalent employees
·         Show growth in employment and/or revenue during two of the past five years
·         Provide products or services beyond the local area to regional, national or global markets
·         Be referred by a participating economic development organization

VEDP will follow up with the companies upon their completion of the six-to-eight-week program to determine its effectiveness addressing issues identified by each company during the application phase.

VEDP staff also will monitor the companies’ increase in revenue and employment during the next 36 months.