GRUNDY, VA – August 24, 2018 — An up to $112,000 Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority (VCEDA) loan to the Buchanan County Industrial Development Authority (IDA) to expand high speed broadband service to the Conaway section of Buchanan County was closed Friday.
The VCEDA board approved the loan request at its meeting August 16.
“VCEDA is pleased to provide the matching funding for this project which will help to expand broadband service in Buchanan County,” said VCEDA Executive Director/General Counsel Jonathan Belcher. “The presence of high-speed broadband is becoming increasingly important to economic development, and this project will assist with that.”
The project will be a public-private partnership between the Buchanan County IDA and Charter Communications which committed matching funds of $112,000 to build the estimated $224,000 project. The project has also been endorsed by the Buchanan County Board of Supervisors by resolution adopted June 4, 2018.
The project will involve the construction of approximately 9.5 miles of new broadband infrastructure stretching from approximately one mile west of Big Rock to the vicinity of the Virginia/Kentucky state line and from U.S. Route 460 to the head of Conaway, Route 610.
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, 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.
Photo caption:
Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority (VCEDA) Executive Director/General Counsel Jonathan Belcher, second from left, presents a ceremonial check to the Buchanan County Industrial Development Authority (IDA) representing a VCEDA loan of up to $112,000 to be used to expand high speed broadband service to the Conaway area of Buchanan County. Pictured from left are Carroll Branham, chairman of the Buchanan County Board of Supervisors, who is also a member of the VCEDA board; Belcher; Buchanan County IDA Chairman Jay Rife; and Buchanan County IDA member Brenda Ward.