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Your GO Virginia Board & Regional Updates
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This month's newsletter will include updates from the board, the regional councils and details about upcoming events. Click below to jump to a specific section or continue reading to see all content included in this edition.
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Board Updates
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Upcoming Events
June 12, 1 p.m.
GO VA Board Meeting
House Room 1, Capitol Building
1000 Bank Street, Richmond
July 10, 9-11a.m. (Click HERE to register)
GO VA How-to-Apply Webinar
Webinar will be hosted on WebEx.
July 13
Per Capita and Competitive Grant applications deadline
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Region One
Region One includes the counties of Bland, Buchanan, Carroll, Dickenson, Grayson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, Washington, Wise and Wythe and the cities of Bristol, Galax and Norton. The Region One Council is led by Mike Quillen as chair, Ron McCall as vice chair, and UVA-Wise is the support organization, led by Shannon Blevins.
Council Meeting Highlights
At the June 5 council meeting, Ben Davenport, vice chair of the GO Virginia State Board, updated the council on statewide efforts and the recent budget and legislative session. Davenport encouraged the region to engage with GO Virginia and to recognize the potential long-term impacts of these projects.
Related Activities
Existing and emerging leaders in business, federal and state government officials and representatives from community and economic development organizations convened on May 17 for the
SWVA Economic Forum at the
University of Virginia's College at UVA-Wise. The focus of the conference was to engage participants with the common goal of improving the economic growth and diversification for all of Southwest Virginia through collaboration and innovation. The theme of this year's event was "Talent." Keynote speakers, breakout sessions and a creative exchange of solutions with neighboring states addressed the hidden talent potential in the region and identified a road map for future needs.
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GO Virginia State Board Vice Chair Ben Davenport (right), ceremoniously awards Region One Council Chair Mike Quillen (left) and Council Member Travis Staton (center) for the United Way of Southwest Virginia: Ignite Internships project at the June 5 council meeting.
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Approved Projects
At its April board meeting, the GO Virginia State Board approved Region One's Ignite Internships project.
This project will expand the Ignite program throughout the region and will collaboratively align school curriculum with local employer needs. United Way of Southwest Virginia will build a web-based platform to deliver activities that will encourage post-secondary education and streamlined workforce credentialing, provide work-based learning opportunities and match new graduates with local employers.
In the News
Check out the link below to see what local news outlets are saying about GO Virginia and Region One:
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Region Two
Region Two includes the counties of Alleghany, Amherst, Appomattox, Bedgord, Botetourt, Campbell, Craig, Floyd, Franklin, Giles, Montgomery, Pulaski and Roanoke and the cities of Covington, Lynchburg, Radford, Roanoke and Salem. The Region Two Council is led by Raymond Smoot as chair, Ab Boxley as vice chair and supported by the Office of Economic Development (OED) at Virginia Tech, led by John Provo.
Council Activity
The GO Virginia State Board approved Dr. Pareena G. Lawrence, the recently installed president of Hollins University, as a new member of the Region Two Council. Dr. Lawrence is an international expert on economic development and has made revamping Hollins' business curriculum, with a major focus on entrepreneurship, an early goal for the institution.
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Region Two's Vice Chair Ab Boxley gives an update on GO Virginia Region Two at the Roanoke Chamber Business Summit on May 17.
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Approved Projects
At its April board meeting, the GO Virginia State Board approved three projects in Region Two: one in commercialization,
Regional Acceleration and Mentorship Program (RAMP) Expansion; one in talent development and credentialing,
Enhancing the Region through New Technology for Unamanned Systems; and one in joint site development and infrastructure,
Center for Energy Research and Education (CERE) Industry Labs
. These three projects were awarded a total of $621,000 in Per Capita grants.
The
RAMP project enhances and expands the reach of the regional acceleration and mentorship program (RAMP), a partnership between the Roanoke-Blacksburg Technology Council, the city of Roanoke and the Virginia Western Community College, which offers technology-based startups access to classroom education, mentoring and assistance in identifying capital.
GO Virginia funds are supporting enhanced training and services for cohort companies, who currently come from the New River and Roanoke valleys. The funds will also support expanding the accelerator-service area into the Lynchburg region.
The Enhancing the Region through New Technology for Unmanned Systems project will implement a new drone technology training program at Dabney S. Lancaster Community College to capitalize on the Alleghany Highlands Drone Zone Initiative surrounding the development of unmanned systems facilities in the region. This new program will establish a career pathway beginning with project-based learning opportunities for high-school students and extending to four-year degree attainment through partnerships with other higher-education institutions.
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CERE project at Liberty University is connected to local and regional economic development efforts. These labs will offer regional companies and institutions of higher education the facilities necessary to promote research and development, as well as to foster the attraction and retention of the scientific and engineering workforce. GO Virginia funds are supporting the relocation of equipment donated by Framatome to CERE, which is located in Bedford County's New London Industrial Park. The equipment will be part of the labs open to companies and universities across the region for research, testing and training purposes.
In the News
Check out the link below to see what local news outlets are saying about GO Virginia and Region Two
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Region Three, or Southern Virginia GO, includes the counties of Amelia, Brunswick, Buckingham, Charlotte, Cumberland, Halifax, Henry, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Nottoway, Patrick, Pittsylvania and Prince Edward and the cities of Danville and Martinsville. The Region Three Council is led by Charles Majors as chair and Randy Lail as vice chair. The region is supported by the Southside Planning District Commission (SPDC), led by Gail Moody with consultant services provided by The Riverlink Group (Liz Povar, principal).
Related Activities
The Southern Virginia GO Region Three Council will host its 2018 Partners Summit on June 21 at Hampden Sydney College. This event is open to the public. Participants will hear from a variety of panels including business leaders, the GO Virginia State Board, the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, the GO-TEC project team, GENEDGE and the Institute for Advanced Learning. The purpose of the summit is to keep local and regional stakeholders informed about the impact of GO Virginia in the communities of Region Three. To register for this event, visit Southern Virginia GO Region Three's website at
http://www.southsidepdc.org/index.php/go-virginia/press-releases-rfp-s.
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GO-TEC project team members at the March 28 Region Three Council meeting. |
Project Solicitation
Region Three was accepting project applications for Per Capita and Competitive grants through April 2 to be considered for the GO Virginia State Board meeting on Aug. 14. Applicants submitted applications that advanced the following three areas:
- Workforce Talent Development and Recruitment
- Sectoral Development
- Cyber Infrastructure.
In the News
Check out the links below to see what local news outlets are saying about GO Virginia and Region Three:
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GROW Capital Jobs (Region Four)
Region Four includes the counties of Charles City, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Goochland, Greensville, Hanover, Henrico, New Kent, Powhatan, Prince George, Surry and Sussex and the cities of Colonial Heights, Emporia, Hopewell, Petersburg and Richmond. The Region Four Council is led by William Goodwin Jr. as chair, John Luke Jr. as vice chair and supported by the Grow Capital Jobs Foundation, a newly formed 501(c)(3), led by Wilson Flohr.
Council Meeting Highlights
At the May 24 Council meeting, John "Dubby" Wynne, chair of the GO Virginia State Board, and Chris Lloyd, staff at the GO Virginia Foundation, updated the council on statewide efforts and the recent budget and legislative season. Wynne was very encouraged by some of the pipeline projects Region Four is developing and thought they could potentially have significant impacts on the region and state.
Foundation Board Meeting Highlights
The Grow Capital Jobs Foundation Board meeting was held on May 9 to discuss the project development process. Bob Holsworth, acting on behalf of a special committee formed by the Region Four Council, presented a report outlining an integrated set of strategic project priorities and recommendations for improvements that will make the process of moving from project conception to project approval more efficient and streamlined.
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May 10, 2018 informal discussion session with Stephen Moret, president and CEO of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership.
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The report outlined four major strategic priorities for projects that are consistent with the direction of the GO Virginia State Board and Region Four's Growth and Diversification Plan.
- Accelerating momentum on workforce development and talent attraction
- Enhancing the innovation/information technology ecosystem
- Increasing the number of ready-to-go sites
- Supporting potentially transformative projects in emerging clusters relating to IT and bio-sciences
In preparing the report, meetings were held with local government administrators and economic development officers throughout Region Four, with leaders from the planning districts and the business and innovation communities. The regional council is interested in developing a pipeline of project proposals that align closely with the above strategies presented in the report. As a result of the report, GROW Capital Jobs has identified many proposals in various stages of development.
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Region Five includes the counties of Accomack, Franklin, Isle of Wright, James City, Northampton, Southampton and York and the cities of Chesapeake, Newport News, Norfolk, Poquoson, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Virginia Beach and Williamsburg. The Region Five Council is led by Thomas Frantz as chair and Anne Conner as vice chair. Region Five's support organization, Reinvent Hampton Roads, was created as a 501(c)(3) to support the efforts of the Region Five Council, led by President and CEO Jim Spore and Executive Vice President Donna Morris.
Related Activities
At the May 10 council meeting, project recipients were invited to give a quarterly update of each of their projects. This included representatives from 757 Seed Fund, HR Cyber Co-Lab, Virginia Digital Shipbulding Workforce Program and Hampton Roads Unmanned Systems Park.
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Jim Noel, economic director for York County, presents to the Region Five Council on the Hampton Roads Unmanned Systems Park project.
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Additionally, the 757 Seed Fund participated in 757 LAUNCH, an event to introduce Hampton Roads entrepreneurs to three new resources: 757 Seed fund, StartWheel.org and 757 Accelerate. The event featured a keynote address by Sen. Mark Warner. These three new programs offer regional entrepreneurs and startups additional opportunities to connect with vital resources, refine their business model and raise capital needed to grow.
Project Solicitation
The Region Five Council is currently accepting applications for Per Capita and Competitive projects through June 13, to be considered and recommended to the GO Virginia State Board on Aug. 14, 2018. For more information and details on Region Five's application process, visit Reinvent Hampton Roads' website at
In the News
Check out the links below to see what local news outlets are saying about GO Virginia and Reinvent Hampton Roads:
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The Mary Ball Washington Regional Council governs GO Virginia Region Six, which covers the Fredericksburg area, the Northern Neck and the Middle Peninsula (Planning Districts 16, 17 and 18). This region includes the counties of Caroline, Essex, Gloucester, King and Queen, K
ing George, King William, Lancaster, Mathews, Middlesex, Northumberland, Richmond, Spotsylvania, Stafford and Westmoreland and the city of Fredericksburg. The council is led by William Beale as chair and Carlton Revere as vice chair. The George Washington Regional Commission (GWRC) Planning District Commission for Planning District 16 is the
support organization and fiscal agent for the regional council, led by Kate Gibson.
Project Solicitation
At its April meeting, the Mary Ball Washington Regional Council (MBWRC) approved the Virginia Sea Grant Resiliency Planning Grant application for submission to DHCD for administrative approval. This enhanced capacity-building project requests $49,996 in GO Virginia funds and leverages $49,996 in cash and in-kind match to complete planning activities related to shoreline resiliency and water management. The goal of the project is to lay the foundation to build a new industry cluster in Virginia, a water management economy that integrates workforce development, R&D, innovation and commercialization.
MBWRC accepted letters of intent for its 2018 funding round. Interested applicants should have completed the letter of intent template to Kate Gibson with George Washington Regional Commission by June 1. The letter of intent template and additional instructions were available on the Region Six website at https://www.gwregion.org/our-work/gova.
In the News
Check out the links below to see what local news outlets are saying about GO Virginia and the Mary Ball Washington Region:
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The GO Northern VA Council (GO NOVA) (Region Seven) includes the counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William and the cities of Alexandria, Falls Church, Manassas and Manassas Park. The GO NOVA Council is led by Carolyn Parent as chair, Matt MCQueen as vice chair and supported by the Northern Virginia Regional Commission (NVRC) and contract support from Sue Rowland with SR Consulting Inc.
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The Honorable Marty Nohe, council treasurer and Prince William County Board of Supervisors vice chair, talks with Bobbie Kilberg (Northern Virginia Technology Council) and Paul Liberty (George Mason University and Council's Governance Committee Chair) following the May meeting.
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Council Meeting Highlights
The GO Northern VA Council (Region Seven) met in early April and May to determine how to best leverage its state funding into projects that capitalize upon existing resources to create innovative approaches to fill the demands of technology firms in the region. The council is supporting one of its projects, the Tech Talent Pipeline project, to expand its role in filling the growing demand for IT and cybersecurity jobs in the region.
"Furthermore, the Council expects to support programs that are in line and will partner with the pipeline," said Council Chair Carolyn Parent. The Tech Talent Pipeline is a collaborative project of Northern Virginia Community College with the Northern Virginia Technology Council.
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Region Eight
Region Eight includes the counties of Augusta, Bath, Clarke, Frederick, Highland, Page, Rockbridge, Rockingham, Shenandoah and Warren and the cities of Buena Vista, Harrisonburg, Lexington, Staunton, Waynesboro and Winchester. The Region Eight Council is led by George Pace as chair and Chris Kyle as vice chair. The Region Eight Council is currently being supported by four support organizations, which include Shenandoah Valley Partnership (SVP), Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission (CSPDC), Northern Shenandoah Valley Regional Commission (NSVRC) and Shenandoah Valley Workforce Development Board (SVWDB).
Council Meeting Highlights
At the April 27 council meeting, the council received an update on the Rockbridge Area Advanced Manufacturing Program (RAAMP). Their welding program has expanded with the assistance of GO Virginia funding, permitting Buyers Technical Institute to purchase new equipment, allowing them to train additional students for high-wage, high-growth employment in the area, and meeting the specialized needs of regional employers.
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John Nicholson, CEO of the Virginia Horse Center, welcomed the Region Eight Council at the April 27 meeting. |
Project Solicitation
At its March council meeting, the council approved the formation of an ad hoc group, composed of local economic development professionals to serve in an advisory role to the council. This group met for the first time on April 23 with representation from eight localities within the Region Eight footprint. The group will review projects funded through GO Virginia across the commonwealth for ideas that could be adapted for this region, as well as brainstorm new collaborative proposals.
In the News
Check out the links below to see press releases and what local news outlets are saying about GO Virginia and Region Eight:
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GO Virginia Region Nine includes the counties of Albermarle, Culpepper, Fauquier, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, Madison, Nelson, Orange and Rappahannock and the city of Charlottesville.
The council is led by Brian Cole as chair, Tom Click as vice chair and supported by the Central Virginia Partnership for Economic Development, led by Helen Cauthen.
Approved Projects
The GO Virginia State Board approved the first GO Virginia Region Nine Per Capita project at its April 10 board meeting. The George Washington Carver Piedmont Technical Education Center (GWC PTEC) project is a talent-development project that is targeting the light manufacturing industry. The GWC PTEC GO Virginia grant was awarded $244,300, with more than $400,000 in matching funds from Culpeper and Fauquier counties and private businesses.
The proposed project will redevelop the former George Washington Carver High School into the state-of-the-art GWC PTEC to train machinists and welders. New Pathways Tech Inc. will operate the facility in partnership with Germanna Community College and the American Institute of Welding to train machinists and welders for the region's advanced manufacturing industry.
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Culpeper and regional community members gather with Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax for the ribbon cutting ceremony at GWC PTEC on May 11, 2018.
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Project Solicitation
At the May 8 Council meeting, the Region Nine Council approved three projects, one to be considered by the GO Virginia State Board at its June 12 meeting, and the other two were submitted to be administratively approved as Enhanced Capacity Building projects.
The two Enhanced Capacity Buildings projects are designed to create capacity in site development and cybersecurity career pathways. The Central Virginia Site Readiness project will advance eight existing sites along the site readiness scale to at least a Tier 3 on the Virginia Business Site Readiness Scale (VBRSP). The Central VA Cybersecurity Partnership project will develop curriculum and design pathways to higher-paying jobs and careers in cybersecurity.
The two upcoming project deadlines set for the remainder of 2018 for Per Capita and Competitive proposals in Region 9 are July 25 and Sept. 25.
In the News
Check out the links below to see press releases and what local news outlets are saying about GO Virginia and Region Nine:
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Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development
(804) 371-7000 | www.dhcd.virginia.gov
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