Commonwealth of Virginia
Office of Governor Glenn Youngkin
Preamble:
Virginia’s Gateway Region Economic Development Organization, the Old Dominion’s first regional EDO, is excited to learn about this wonderful news regarding the 2022 Regional Grant & Statewide Competitive Awards, through which, four localities within GO Virginia Region 4 — which comprises all of VGR’s service area — were awarded with value-added and supportive grants that will surely help to continue carrying on the mission of “uniting our region for economic prosperity.”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 17, 2022
~ Funding will support workforce development and middle-mile broadband infrastructure development. ~
RICHMOND, Va. — Governor Glenn Youngkin today announced $5,482,330 in Growth and Opportunity for Virginia, or “GO Virginia,” grant awards for two projects focused on creating a critical talent pipeline to support the emerging Advanced Pharmaceutical Manufacturing industry and expanding middle-mile broadband infrastructure to increase access and service quality to existing industry as well as key economic development sites.
“Industry-responsive workforce development programs will play a critical role in jumpstarting our economy, as will increasing the marketability of sites through improved infrastructure, like broadband,” said Governor Youngkin. “These projects will provide invaluable support to our goals of opening Virginia for business, reinvigorating job growth and delivering on our Day One promises.”
The GO Virginia Board of Directors includes key members of the Governor’s cabinet, leadership from the business community and the Virginia General Assembly, including Secretary of Commerce and Trade Caren Merrick and Secretary of Finance Steve Cummings. Newly appointed House of Delegates members, include: Del. Todd Gilbert, Speaker of the House; Del. Terry Kilgore, House Majority Leader; Del. Barry Knight, Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations; and Del. Terry Austin.
“GO Virginia plays an important role in developing the next generation of leaders and innovators across the Commonwealth,” said Secretary of Commerce and Trade Caren Merrick. “These projects showcase a collaborative approach by bringing regional partners together to expand and attract businesses and provide quality job opportunities to Virginians.”
“These recent efforts of the GO Virginia program demonstrate the critical nature of strategic thinking in these regions and how addressing near-term economic and infrastructure needs can create long-term economic growth opportunities,” said GO Virginia Board Member and Virginia Senator Frank Ruff. “These two projects represent how regions can come together to combine public, private and federal resources to ultimately produce a tremendously positive impact on communities in these particular regions and around the Commonwealth.”
Since the program’s inception in 2017, GO Virginia has funded 209 projects and awarded approximately $81 million to support regional economic development efforts. To learn more about the GO Virginia program, visit: dhcd.virginia.gov/gov.
2022 STATEWIDE COMPETITIVE AWARDS —
MBC Middle Mile Fiber Expansion Project | $5,000,000
- Region 3: Region 3: Counties of Prince Edward, Lunenburg and Mecklenburg.
- Region 4: Counties of Dinwiddie, Prince George and Sussex, as well as the City of Petersburg.
Mid-Atlantic Broadband Communities Inc. will build six, middle-mile broadband infrastructure segments that will provide critical broadband connectivity and diversity in nine localities. The effort will extend middle mile open-access fiber optic infrastructure to critical business and industrial parks in GO Virginia Region 4, increasing marketability, reducing future infrastructure extension costs and providing a robust fiber connection that will enable private-sector telecom carriers to support business and industry on strategic economic development sites.
2022 REGIONAL GRANT AWARDS —
Building a Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Talent Pipeline | $482,330
- Region 4: Counties of Chesterfield, Dinwiddie and Prince George; as well as the City of Petersburg.
John Tyler Community College, which is becoming “Brightpoint Community College,” has developed the Building an Advanced Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Talent Pipeline project to offer career-training programs and credentials to emerging Advanced Pharmaceutical Manufacturing technicians. The project, abbreviated BPMTP, will address regional interest in growing a diverse pharmaceutical manufacturing talent pipeline, offer programs and credentials which meet the emerging global pharmaceutical manufacturing sector’s immediate workforce demands and grow a diverse regional pipeline of skilled, Advanced Pharmaceutical Manufacturing technicians.
About Virginia’s Gateway Region EDO:
VGR is the regional EDO that markets the independent localities within the Tri-Cities of Petersburg, Hopewell and Colonial Heights, in addition to the outer-region counties of Dinwiddie, Prince George, Surry and Sussex as well as the incorporated towns within them. VGR focuses its efforts on new and existing business investment and job creation with the goal of funding the region for economic prosperity.
About VGR’s Advanced Pharma Campaign:
Virginia’s Gateway Region is well on its way to becoming a transformational Advanced Pharmaceutical Manufacturing cluster. The COVID-19 pandemic has made very evident, that the importance of drugs being produced here in the U.S.A. has never been more relevant. Thanks to a unique public–private partnership between industry, academia and government, advanced manufacturing of essential active pharmaceutical ingredients in the region will help ensure reliable access to affordable, quality medicines and benefit economic prosperity in the region for years to come. To learn more, visit VGR’s Advanced Pharma Landing Page, at: www.GatewayRegion.com/Rx.
Media Contacts:
- Contact: Macaulay Porter
- Email: Macaulay.Porter@governor.virginia.gov
- Contact: Alexis Carey
- Email: Alexis.Carey@dhcd.virginia.gov
###