VCEDA Approves Loan for Red Onion Water Line
The loan was closed July 18 on an up to $1,004,890 loan to the Dickenson County Industrial Development Authority (IDA) to be used to replace the water line serving Red Onion Industrial Park and the Red Onion State Prison. On hand for the ceremonial check presentation were, from left, Donald Baker, Mayor of the Town of Clintwood; Jonathan Belcher, VCEDA executive director/general counsel; Talbert Bolling, chairman, Dickenson County IDA, and Danny Lambert, secretary/treasurer, Dickenson County IDA.
VCEDA closed an up to $1,004,890 loan to the Dickenson County Industrial Development Authority July 18 to be used to replace the water line servicing the Red Onion Industrial Park and the Red Onion State Prison in Dickenson County.
The Town of Clintwood originally constructed a water line to serve the Red Onion Prison when the prison was built in the mid-1990s. Initially, the line was installed to serve the Red Onion Prison, but since its construction, water is now also sold on a wholesale basis to the Town of Pound and the Dickenson County Public Service Authority. The water line will also serve to provide water to the Industrial Development Authority’s Red Onion Industrial Park as the park develops.
“Infrastructure is one of the keys to successful economic development and the replacement of the water line which services the Red Onion Industrial Park and the prison is an important part of infrastructure in Dickenson County and a critical need as it relates to the prison which employs a large number of workers, as well as the marketability of the IDA’s Red Onion industrial site.”
Jonathan Belcher, VCEDA Executive Director/General Counsel
Read more about the Red Onion water line replacement.
VCEDA Region Companies Graduate from the Go Global with Coal and Energy Technology Program
Three coalfield region companies have increased sales and employment during the two years they participated in a pilot program sponsored by VCEDA designed to assist coal and energy technology businesses in expanding their international business.
The second class of companies that graduated earlier this month from the Go Global with Coal and Energy Technology (GGCET) program included Paul’s Fans and West River Conveyors and Machinery Co. of Buchanan County, and Norris Screen and Manufacturing of Tazewell County.
The GGCET program, a collaboration of VCEDA, the Governor’s Office and the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP), was created in 2015 and announced by then Governor Terry McAuliffe at the PEMCO Corporation in Bluefield, Va., one coalfield region company in the first class of participants. Modeled and linked to VEDP’s VALET (Virginia Leaders in Export Trade) program, GGCET offered a combination of resources provided by VCEDA and VEDP and professional services from private sector partners to assist the region’s coal and energy technology companies with support and access to resources to help expand their international sales and markets.
Photo: Coalfield region companies in the 2016-2018 class of the Go Global with Coal and Energy Technology program, sponsored by the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority (VCEDA) in a collaboration with the Governor’s Office and the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP), recently graduated during ceremonies in Richmond, Va. From left, are Todd Elswick, Paul’s Fans; Diane Thomas, VEDP; Jackie Estep, Paul’s Fans; Pete Savage, West River Conveyors and Machinery Co.; and Tim Lilly, Norris Screen and Manufacturing.
K&E Southern Sweets Receives Seed Capital Grant
The VCEDA grant made it possible for Adkins, together with her daughter-in-law, Elizabeth Peak, to open K&E Southern Sweets on 516 West Main Street in Wise. The new bakery offers wedding cakes, birthday cakes, specialty cupcakes, homemade candies, pies, cookies and cake pops. They hope to add to the array of sweets offered at the bakery and have added ice cream for the hot summer months. Already, they have met their projections of creating two full-time jobs.
“Assisting new small business owners in realizing their business plans is what the VCEDA Seed Capital Matching Fund is all about. K&E Southern Sweets had a good business plan and their proximity to the Inn at Wise and UVA-Wise also gave them a ready clientele, adding to their ability to succeed.”
Jonathan Belcher, VCEDA Executive Director/General Counsel
Read more about K&E Southern Sweets.
Photo: K&E Southern Sweets in Wise, was recently awarded a VCEDA seed capital matching Grant. From left, owners Kelley Adkins and Elizabeth Peak, holding Daisee, are pictured in front of the new bakery with Carl Snodgrass, Wise County economic development director, left; and Tim Blankenbecler, Small Business Development Center director at Mountain Empire Community College, right.
Yuma Storage Receives VCEDA Seed Capital Grant
VCEDA awarded a $10,000 seed capital matching grant to Yuma Storage that will allow the Scott County business to make plans to expand. For years, Paul Fields drove back and forth on Yuma Road in Weber City, glancing over at a desolate piece of property as he passed it, thinking there must be something for which the property could be used.
He thought about it awhile and then purchased the property, building 25 storage units on it and opening Yuma Storage a little more than a year ago. Within 30 days, all of the units were rented and he was still receiving requests from the public interested in the rentals. With no more units available, he was forced to turn them away until with the assistance of the VCEDA seed capital matching grant, he was able to begin planning to add 20 more 10×10 foot units to the property. The new units will join the other units already on the property which include 5×10, 10×10, 10×15, 10×20 and 10×30 units.
“VCEDA was pleased to assist Yuma Storage in its plan to add more storage units to the new business through the VCEDA seed capital matching grant program. Assisting entrepreneurs to start and grow their new small businesses is a key component of our overall economic development strategy for the region.”
Jonathan Belcher, VCEDA Executive Director/General Counsel
Read more about Yuma Storage.
Photo: Paul Fields, second from left, accepts a ceremonial check representing the $10,000 VCEDA seed capital matching grant awarded to Yuma Storage from VCEDA Executive Director/General Counsel Jonathan Belcher. Also on hand for the presentation were Scott County Economic Development Authority Director John Kilgore, left; and Small Business Development Center Director at Mountain Empire Community College, Tim Blankenbecler.