VCEDA Marketing Coordinator Susan Copeland, right, represented VCEDA at the Automotive and Composites Conference and Exhibition in Michigan in early September. Also pictured is Gizelle Siapno, of VEDP.
VCEDA Attends ACCE Conference
VCEDA attended the Automotive and Composites Conference & Exhibition (ACCE) Sept. 4-6 in Novi, Mich., along with representatives of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP). While there, VCEDA and VEDP representatives met with companies seeking to learn more about Virginia and Southwest Virginia’s e-Region opportunities and advantages. The event is the Society of Plastics Engineers’ 19th annual conference designed to educate and update automotive design and production engineers, sales personnel and management from transportation OEMs and tier suppliers about the benefits and expanding importance of composites in passenger vehicles, light trucks and other ground transportation. More than 800 speakers, exhibitors and attendees from the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
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VCEDA Executive Director/General Counsel Jonathan Belcher, second from left, presents a ceremonial check to Travis Logan, representing the seed capital matching grant funding recently approved for JAG Service, LLC. From left are Penny Horton, Scott County Economic Development; Belcher; Logan; Jessica Logan; Grace White; Angela White, JAG Service co-owner; and Small Business Development Center Director Tim Blankenbecler.
Seed Capital Grant Approved for JAG Service, LLC
The need for maintenance and repair services for diesel equipment is something Angela White, of Scott County, has long understood as she has operated a trucking company since 2005. When a local garage facility in the area became available, White partnered with Travis Logan and purchased the garage they opened as JAG Service, LLC to provide those services to area businesses which rely on heavy equipment. JAG Service, LLC was recently approved for a $10,000 seed capital matching grant from the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority (VCEDA).
“VCEDA was pleased to assist JAG Service, LLC with a seed capital matching grant. The service they are providing at JAG Service, LLC is valuable to many other Southwest Virginia businesses and in addition, it creates jobs. Their application projected four full-time and three part-time jobs within three years.”
Jonathan Belcher, VCEDA Executive Director/General Counsel
Read more about JAG Service, LLC.
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VCEDA Executive Director/General Counsel Jonathan Belcher, second from right, presents a ceremonial check to Deana Haines, representing the seed capital matching grant funding recently approved for Fat Cat Farm LLC. From left are Small Business Development Center Director Tim Blankenbecler; Haines; Belcher; and Penny Horton, of the Scott County Economic Development Authority.
Fat Cat Farm, LLC Selected for Seed Capital Grant
Farming has been something Deana Haines, of Duffield, has done since she was a child. Opening her own greenhouse is something she has wanted to do her whole life and with the help of a $10,000 seed capital matching grant from the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority (VCEDA), Haines is working toward realizing that dream. She has plans to grow a variety of culinary herbs, flowers, vegetables and strawberries – started from seed and grown to various stages for retail sale at local farmers markets and offered at wholesale to local farm and garden stores and health food stores.
“Agriculture remains as one of VCEDA’s target industries and Fat Cat Farm LLC’s business plan certainly fits that market with its plans to construct multiple greenhouses and add to the growth of local produce, herbs and fruits. The business application projects one full-time job within a year and an additional part-time job within two years.”
Jonathan Belcher, VCEDA Executive Director/General Counsel
Read more about Fat Cat Farm, LLC.
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VCEDA was represented at the National HUBZone conference by Marketing Ambassador Charlotte Mullins.
VCEDA Exhibits at National HUBZone Conference
VCEDA was pleased to be an exhibitor at the 2019 National HUBZone Conference in September in Chantilly, VA. The event featured 100-plus federal agencies and large primes participating in two days of matchmaking, 50-plus exhibitors and a fantastic line up of speakers presenting a variety of educational workshops.
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VCEDA Executive Director/General Counsel Jonathan Belcher, second from left, presents a ceremonial check to William Neeley, representing the seed capital matching grant funding recently approved for NRC Escape Rooms LLC. From left are Wise County Economic Development Director Carl Snodgrass; Belcher; Neeley; and Small Business Development Center Director Tim Blankenbecler.
Seed Capital Grant Awarded to NRC Escape Rooms, LLC
Sixty minutes. A locked room. One way out. The clock is ticking. In Big Stone Gap, that means one thing – you’re at NRC Escape Rooms LLC trying to solve your way out of one of three themed rooms as part of a fun game played with friends and/or family. Escape rooms, like NRC Escape Rooms recently opened by William Neeley, of Jonesville, provide live‐action team‐based games where players cooperatively discover clues, solve riddles and puzzles, locate secret passages and accomplish tasks in order to find their way out of the room. NRC Escape Room, LLC was recently approved for a $10,000 seed capital matching grant from the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority (VCEDA).
“Assisting entrepreneurs in realizing their dreams and helping them to establish and grow their businesses is what VCEDA’s Seed Capital Matching Grant program is all about. At the same time, they are adding to the employment picture in the region and further helping the region to grow and diversify from within.”
Jonathan Belcher, VCEDA Executive Director/General Counsel
Read more about NRC Escape Rooms, LLC.
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VCEDA Executive Director/General Counsel Jonathan Belcher, second from right, presents a ceremonial check to Buchanan County Industrial Development Authority Chairman Jay Rife, right, representing grant funds approved for an update to the Southern Gap development master plan and to conduct a feasibility study on the potential for a multi-use expo center. Also on hand for the presentation were, from left, Scotty Wampler, Buchanan County marketing and tourism director; and Brenda Ward, Buchanan County IDA secretary/treasurer.
VCEDA Closes on Grant for Southern Gap Master Plan Update
The Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority (VCEDA) closed earlier this month on an up to $88,118.10 grant to the Buchanan County Industrial Development Authority to be used to update the county’s Southern Gap development master plan and to conduct a feasibility study on the potential for a multi-use expo center. In 2007, the Buchanan County IDA commissioned a master plan for the site’s overall development. With the plan now more than a decade old and several changes occurring in the meantime, the IDA requested the VCEDA funding to be used to update the master plan and to explore the feasibility of an expo center at Southern Gap.
“The Southern Gap development is a 3,153-acre area controlled by the Buchanan County Industrial Development Authority. With changes that have occurred on site since site development first started, including the ongoing construction of the new Southern Gap Transportation and Logistics Center, the county maintenance garage, a shell building and more, the site has changed and the county wishes to revisit and update planning for it.”
Jonathan Belcher, VCEDA Executive Director/General Counsel
Read more about the Southern Gap Master Plan grant.