Christiansburg and Blacksburg are both included in a $4.2 million grant to the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) for 17 projects across 25 counties and eight independent cities in Southwest Georgia.
Christiansburg received a $275,000 ARC award for its downtown gathering space. The project will create a welcoming farmers market and multipurpose cultural anchor space in downtown Christiansburg that will act as a catalyst for future economic growth and vibrancy and serve the need for both programmed and spontaneous outdoor public space use.
The YMCA at Virginia Tech received an ARC award totaling $499,985.50 for its Y Cares Childcare Center. The center is designed to create approximately 20 to 25 new full-time jobs in the region and provide training and mentor opportunities to individuals entering the workforce.
The Appalachian Regional Commission grants are used to stimulate economic development by funding projects such as infrastructure, entrepreneurship development and workforce development. The federal commission will finalize approval of these project awards later this year.
“These 17 proposed projects will provide job creation opportunities for Appalachian communities and help further the work to diversify the economy of the region,” said Secretary of Commerce and Trade Brian Ball.
The other 15 projects recommended for funding are $500,000 for the Hunt’s Fork Waterline Extension in Buchanan County to provide potable water for 44 households and 109 residents;
$50,000 to develop the 30-acre Red Onion Industrial Park in Dickenson County;
$216,880 to The Harvest Foundation to advance early childhood education in the City of Martinsville and Henry County, a project that will result in 15 new jobs and six new childcare businesses;
$50,000 to restore the Town of Lebanon’s Russell Theater;
$500,000 for the replacement of aged and derelict water lines in and around the Town of St. Charles in Lee County;
$218,027 to replace aging and derelict water lines to provide reliable water service to 36 customers in the Fields community in Lee County;
$48,000 to LENOWISCO Planning District Commission in Wise County to create a plan of action to develop and implement a comprehensive ecosystem of recovery for individuals with opioid addiction;
$50,000 to the New College Foundation Center for Trades Entrepreneurship in the City of Martinsville to produce a report detailing a training curriculum and course of study for entrepreneurship in the skilled trades with the goals of increasing the number of new businesses and the number of individuals pursuing skilled trade degrees;
$400,000 to the City of Norton Industrial Development Authority to extend water, sewer, gas, and broadband infrastructure to the new regional business park in the City of Norton;
$35,000 to Patrick County to develop a comprehensive plan that will identify projects for short-term and long-term investment in broadband expansion and economic growth;
$50,000 to the Pennington Gap Business Center for the Trades to provide a cost-efficient place for entrepreneurs to succeed with the target market skilled and/or trained workforce, ready-to-work employees and those entering the service workforce;
$63,233 to People Incorporated Financial Services to provide entrepreneurial and financial training to low- and very low-income individuals and communities in Buchanan, Dickenson, and Russell counties. The project is targeting fifty individuals;
$197,592 to Virginia Community Capita to support in-person local business competitions and workshops in Southwest Virginia, as well as offer revolving loan fund support services that complement existing local, regional and state economic development efforts to grow and strengthen new and existing businesses. Thirty businesses will be served, and 15 will be improved;
$500,000 for the Glamorgan Sewer Project in Wise County in which the Wise County Public Service Authority will install a wastewater collection system in the Glamorgan community, providing new public sewer service to an estimated 62 residential connections in a previously unserved area of Wise County at the northwestern boundary of the Town of Wise;
$500,000 for the Millwald Theatre Restoration and Economic Revitalization Project in the Town of Wytheville.
