Washington County readies land for development

Washington County is seeking nearly $2 million in federal funding to transform undeveloped acreage at Highlands Business Park into a 10-acre, pad-ready site.

“When an industry is looking to locate [somewhere], … they want to put the shovels in the ground,” says county Director of Economic Development Alicia Roland.

Highlands Business Park was developed in the late 1990s by the Smyth-Washington Regional Industrial Facilities Authority. The 302-acre property is home to facilities operated by American Electric Power, Speyside Bourbon Cooperage, and General Engineering.

By 2023, only a few available lots remained at the park. Local officials decided to dissolve the RIFA.

A couple factors prompted county leaders to give the remaining land at Highlands Business Park another look.

For one, the long-anticipated Southwest Virginia inland port is likely to be located at Washington County‘s Oak Park Center for Business and Industry. That would leave only two or three available sites at Oak Park, according to Roland, bringing the county close to exhausting its supply of industrial development sites.

Additionally, officials had proof that Highlands Business Park remains attractive to industries. More than a year ago, Thermo King, a Minnesota manufacturer of transport temperature control systems, expressed interest in a site at the park, but the land was already spoken for by a yet-to-be-disclosed project. While a deal failed to materialize, the interest in the site gave officials confidence about investing in shovel-ready sites.

“We just wanted to make sure that we had any available sites up and ready to go,” Roland says.

In recent months, Roland and regional partners have worked to secure funding for the Highlands Business Park effort. Expected to cost about $2.3 million, the project includes site clearing, grading, and installation of essential utility infrastructure.

In April, Washington County applied for $1.8 million through two U.S. Economic Development Administration programs. In June, GO Virginia, the state economic development initiative, committed $61,500 to the Highlands Business Park effort. And the state Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission awarded the Washington County IDA $350,000 this spring.

If the federal money comes through for the Highlands Business Park project, the work could be completed by fall 2027.

Jordan Powers, senior planner at Mount Rogers Planning District Commission, expects to hear about the EDA funding by the end of summer. “Anything could happen,” he says, “but we feel pretty good about our application.”