VCEDA closed on a loan of up to $250,000 for the Appalachian Agency for Senior Citizens Falls Mills Adult Day Care Facility project July 19 at the AASC offices at Wardell. On hand for the ceremonial check presentation were AASC managers and Tazewell County officials including, from left, Tazewell County Attorney Eric Young; Carolyn Counts; Tazewell County Administrator Pat Green; Northern District Supervisor Maggie Asbury; AASC Executive Director Regina Sayers; and VCEDA Executive Director/General Counsel Jonathan Belcher; and (back) Joe Ratliff, Leah Call, Beverly Lester, Mary Bowen Colley, Dedra Helbert, Brian Beck, Tazewell County Economic Development Director Mike Thompson and Linda Hayes.
Lebanon, VA (July 19, 2017) — Senior citizens and their families in Tazewell County will soon have another option when it comes to care due in part to a Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority loan to the Appalachian Agency for Senior Citizens (AASC). VCEDA closed Wednesday on the loan of up to $250,000 to AASC to be used to finance building construction and costs for the development of an adult day care/multipurpose senior services facility in the Falls Mills area of Tazewell County.
VCEDA’s board of directors previously approved the loan amount for the new facility, utilizing funds from Tazewell County’s designated account.
AASC is a non-profit Virginia corporation serving the four-county area of Buchanan, Dickenson, Russell and Tazewell counties.
“We are pleased to be able to assist in this project,” said Jonathan Belcher, VCEDA executive director/general counsel. “It will provide options for care for elderly Southwest Virginia residents, while at the same time providing jobs for the staff who will be put in place to operate it and the programs it will offer.”
Initial projections call for the facility to provide employment for four full-time and 14 part-time employees within one year. Within five years, AASC projections call for employment to reach five full-time and 20 part-time employees.
Planning for the new facility began in 2011 when Tazewell County and AASC began discussions around need for industry and employment in the Falls Mills area. A planning grant from the state Community Development Block Grant program was received from which a preliminary architectural report, feasibility study and a business plan was created.
“The AASC Board of Directors, the staff and I are excited about this opportunity for this new partnership with VCEDA,” said AASC Executive Director Regina Sayers. “This is a true collaborative effort with VCEDA, AASC, Tobacco Commission, DHCD, Appalachian Regional Commission, Tazewell County IDA, and the Shott Foundation, as well as others unmentioned. The Falls Mills project will not only provide much needed services to our vulnerable seniors, but will also create economic development in a struggling community.”
The new building which will house the Adult Day Care Center is projected to be 8,277 square feet. The new center, when complete, will provide adult day services, nutrition programs for the community, care coordination and the services available through AASC’s Program for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE). A commercial kitchen is planned for the facility and a community garden is also being planned.
###
About Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority and 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 Virginia’s e-Region and its focus on electronic information technology, energy, education and emerging technologies. 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.