Southwest Virginia’s e-Region is marketed by the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority, also known as VCEDA.
VCEDA is a regional economic development authority created by Virginia’s General Assembly in 1988 to enhance and diversify the economic base of the seven-county, one-city, coal-producing region in southwestern Virginia. VCEDA is the organization officially created by the General Assembly to promote the economic development of this region.
VCEDA works very closely with the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP), the state’s economic development agency, and with the local industrial/economic development authorities in the region.
Since its creation in 1988, VCEDA has helped bring tens of thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in approved funding for hundreds of projects throughout the coalfield region. Studies have shown that VCEDA has also significantly reduced the region’s unemployment rate and improved the diversification of the region’s economy.
The region includes Lee, Wise, Scott, Buchanan, Russell, Tazewell and Dickenson counties and the City of Norton. It is an emerging East Coast center for key areas for business – electronic information technology, energy, education, emerging technologies and entrepreneurs.
A trendsetter in broadband and wireless access in rural America, Southwest Virginia’s e-Region has low costs of doing business, the workforce, tailored training, available buildings, ready-to-go sites in new technology and business parks, and a way of life that makes employers and their employee families very happy.
To encourage diversification and create new jobs, VCEDA manages unique financing programs funded by taxes paid by the coal and natural gas industries in the region.
Financing is based in part upon the number of new jobs created, wage rates and amount of private investment.
Our History
Since VCEDA was formed in 1988 the region has seen the creation of tens of thousands of jobs and billions in private investment in the seven counties and one city.
The Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority or VCEDA was formed by the Virginia General Assembly in 1988 to enhance and diversify the economy of the seven-county, one-city coalfield region of Southwest Virginia. This region includes the counties of Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Tazewell and Wise and the City of Norton.
VCEDA’s mission as outlined in the Code of Virginia “shall provide financial support for the purchase of real estate, construction of buildings for sale or lease, installation of utilities, direct loans and grants to private for-profit basic employers; may apply for matching funds from the state or federal government, or the private sector; and any other support improvements it deems necessary.”
Charles S. Yates was named as the first Executive Director of the Authority that manages funds for economic development provided by a portion of the severance taxes paid by the coal and natural gas industries in the region and also markets the region as an excellent location for new and expanding industries. Since VCEDA was formed, the region has seen the creation of tens of thousands of jobs, billions in private investment, the economic diversity index of the region has improved by more than 250 percent, and the region’s unemployment rate has been cut by at least half.
Telecommunications and technology were of primary significance in the 90s as VCEDA and its regional and state allies encouraged development of a technology certified labor force that would be necessary to attract technology industries to Southwest Virginia. In 1990 an Executive Advisory Board comprised of Virginia’s leading business and political figures was formally organized under the leadership of Bell Atlantic President and CEO Hugh Stallard to assist with developing a marketing strategy and industry recruiting. The advisory board that included industry leaders and former governors, including the late Governor Linwood Holton, worked in partnership with VCEDA for a number of years to come, helping to develop an economic development strategy for the 21st century.
The first ever marketing and industrial recruitment program for the coalfields took shape in the early years of VCEDA, and a marketing arm called the Virginia Southwest Promise made progress in recruiting new industry to the region. The first Governor’s Red Carpet Tour of the region, hosted by Governor George Allen and VCEDA, helped spotlight the region as a place that businesses should consider. Highlights in the 1990s included the location of Crutchfield Corporation, a leading catalog and Internet retailer of audio and video components, locating its first call center away from its Charlottesville, VA headquarters in the VCEDA region to handle incoming sales and customer service calls.
Other companies to locate in the 90s included Nexus Communications, Reynolds Wheels International VA, Inc., AT&T Virginia Relay Center, Tempur Pedic Inc., LEAR Corporation, SpanDeck, Inc., Woodtech, Inc., Fournier/Bush Industries and the Appalachian School of Law. Another significant development in the 90s was a call center study in cooperation with local school divisions, community colleges, the University of Virginia’s College at Wise and existing IT companies in the region documenting the availability of labor and training programs to support the location of customer service/information technology jobs in the region.
VCEDA’s strategy begun in the 90s to build technology parks and create training programs to provide the facilities and labor pool for tech companies really started to pay off in 2001, bringing more than 1,000 new jobs to the region, starting with internet-based travel reservations company Travelocity.com announcement it would establish a third U.S. customer service center in a just-vacated Nexus facility in the Dickenson County Technology Park and plans to hire all 500 employees locally. Other technology leaders to create centers in the region in the 2000s included Sykes Enterprises that became the first tenant in the Lonesome Pine Regional Business and Technology Park; industry leaders CGI-AMS and Northrop Grumman locating in Russell County with 700 jobs; KCG Call Centers in Lee County; Call Evolution in Scott County; and SI International in Dickenson County.
Other notable developments in the 2000s were VCEDA’s approval of $2.5 million in funding for the Town of Grundy Redevelopment Project; Tempur Production USA began production of orthopedic pillows and mattresses at its first U.S. manufacturing facility in Scott County at the Duffield Industrial Park; continued support for development of business and technology parks throughout the region, including Southern Gap Industrial Park in Buchanan County which saw Sykes Enterprises as its first tenant; expansions at VFP in Scott County and Pyott Boone Electronics in Tazewell County; and Dominion Power’s choice of a Wise County site to build a $1 billion hybrid energy power plant. With the advice of the Executive Advisory Board, VCEDA launched a new program seeking the location of independent power generation projects, with the primary objective to add economic value to coal and natural gas before it leaves the region.
Governor Mark Warner, also a former member of VCEDA’s Executive Advisory Board, helped VCEDA host a VIP tour of the region in 2004 introducing this corner of Southwest Virginia to industry leaders. With the cooperation of many local and state allies and the VCEDA Board and Executive Advisory Board, VCEDA has continued an aggressive marketing effort promoting the coalfield region to the world as Virginia’s Energy Region and now as Southwest Virginia’s e-Region focusing on the region’s core strengths and competitive advantages in electronic information technology, energy, education, entrepreneurs, and emerging and traditional specialty manufacturing technologies.
Thanking all those who supported the Authority and him over his 17 years as Executive Director, Charles Yates announced his retirement in 2006, saying, “Today we’re working together as a region, maybe more than we ever have, to make sure that these career jobs coming to our communities are filled and that the companies are successful for years to come.” Jonathan Belcher, who started with VCEDA in 1997 as Funds Administrator/General Counsel, then Deputy Executive Director/General Counsel, and later Acting Executive Director/General Counsel, was named as Executive Director/General Counsel in 2006 and continues to serve in that capacity.
VCEDA kicked off this decade with a Red Carpet Tour (2011) hosted by Governor Bob McDonnell which brought the largest single group of business executives and site consultant prospects to the region in many years. This was also the year that VCEDA recorded 56 prospect visits to the region, the highest number on record for at least 15 years.
Two anniversary years were marked during this decade with the 25th year (2013) stats showing VCEDA since 1988 helping create 20,000 jobs, approving $157 million in funding for 244 projects in all eight localities that make up the e-Region. The 30th anniversary year (2018) was the most active year in the history of the Authority with the approval of $15 million in funding for 45 loans and grants for economic development projects, including the new seed capital matching fund created in 2017. VCEDA approved funding for 50 new projects and expansions in 2019, then the highest number in the Authority’s history as of that date.
VCEDA continued its support during this decade for infrastructure in new parks; a new shell building in the Bluestone Regional Business and Technology Park in Tazewell County; development of outdoor recreation opportunities including Spearhead Trails and Southern Gap Outdoor Adventures; a water park and zip line at Breaks Interstate Park; and assistance to the Heart of Appalachia Tourism Authority. Other highlights during this period were the location of IT leader Frontier Secure as well as DP Facilities Mineral Gap Tier III data center in the Lonesome Pine Regional Business and Technology Park in Wise County,
Aggressive business development outreach activities and marketing continued with the addition of an active social media presence for VCEDA, revisions to the vceda.us website with downloadable demographic and site data, and active participation in FDI cultivation events such as the U.S. Department of Commerce’s annual Select USA conference.
Despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which brought many challenges to the region, state, nation and the world, 2020 was a productive year for VCEDA. Thirty-nine new projects and announcements were announced in 2020 with $237 million in private investment in the region and 1500 jobs; more than 600 of those jobs VCEDA helped save in the region through COVID-19 relief funding. In 2021, VCEDA announced 60 projects with nearly all benefitting from some type of financial assistance approved by VCEDA, including 64 loans and grants, the highest quantity of loans and grants in its history, for more than $6.1 million in new VCEDA funding.
Solar workforce training projects at Southwest Virginia and Mountain Empire community colleges were the first recipients of a newly established VCEDA Renewable Energy Fund. The region saw the opening of the first 2.57 miles of the Virginia Coalfields Expressway (2023) as a four-lane thanks to federal funding obtained with the assistance of the region’s federal legislators and the Virginia Coalfields Expressway Authority, for which VCEDA began providing staff support in 2020.
Companies locating in the region during this time frame included Tate, Inc., manufacturer of data center components, a global company that was provided support for job creation through the Virginia Talent Accelerator program. Other companies locating in the region since 2020 are WRAP Technologies, EarthLink, and CNX Resources new regional headquarters. Several expansions at some of the region’s long-time employers have been announced, and a new substance abuse rehabilitation facility with workforce training programs is under development in Dickenson County with major funding from VCEDA.
What We Do
VCEDA is a regional economic development authority which offers a comprehensive set of services and programs to help qualifying businesses locate or expand in Southwest Virginia’s e-Region including:
Loans for real estate, building construction and expansion, equipment
Grants for workforce development and training
Assistance in identifying available sites and buildings
Industrial park development and infrastructure
Seed capital grants to assist new start-ups
Tourism development
Business retention and expansion program
Explore VCEDA
Work With Us
VCEDA provides the funding, expertise, and connections you need to locate, expand, or start your business in Southwest Virginia.
Available space in the Crooked Road Tech Center in Scott County