VCEDA presents a ceremonial check for an up to $90,000 loan to Sugar Hill Cidery, LLC, to help with the establishment of a new cidery and restaurant in Norton. From left, are Greg Bailey; Jennifer Bailey, owner of Sugar Hill Cidery; Jonathan Belcher, VCEDA executive director/general counsel; and Roseann Jones, finance director, Cumberland Plateau Planning District Commission, which also has approved financing to Sugar Hill Cidery.
LEBANON, Va. – April 9, 2019 – The Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority (VCEDA) recently closed on an up to $90,000 loan to help with the establishment of a new cidery and restaurant in Norton.
The loan from the VCEDA Tourism Capital Improvement Matching Fund is to Sugar Hill Cidery, LLC, owned by Jennifer Bailey, which will be located in a building under renovation at 815 Park Avenue SW in the City of Norton. The building, owned by the Norton Industrial Development Authority (IDA), has been identified by the city as a central piece of its economic and downtown revitalization strategy and Sugar Hill Cidery will lease space at the building from the IDA.
The cidery will include a full-service restaurant and offer a casual dining experience, according to Jennifer Bailey who is hoping to open in August. Sugar Hill Cidery will also offer craft beer produced by Sugar Hill Brewing Co. in St. Paul, Va., owned by Jennifer and her husband Greg Bailey, a small business that was a recipient of a seed capital matching grant from VCEDA in 2017.
“VCEDA is very happy to help new businesses create jobs and we are glad to help Sugar Hill Cidery with this project which is an important part of the City of Norton’s economic development strategy for the downtown area,” said Jonathan Belcher, VCEDA executive director/general counsel.
Sugar Hill Cidery projects six full-time and 24 part-time employees within one year.
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About Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority and Southwest Virginia’s e-Region: The Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority, created by the Virginia General Assembly in 1988 to enhance and diversify the region’s economy and help create jobs, markets Southwest Virginia’s e-Region and its focus on electronic information technology, energy, education, emerging technologies, and entrepreneurship. VCEDA is a unique economic development organization that manages funds for economic development projects from a percentage of the coal and natural gas severance taxes paid by coal and natural gas companies that operate in the region. Located in southwestern Virginia, the region includes Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Tazewell, and Wise counties and the City of Norton. www.vceda.us or www.e-Region.org.