LEBANON, VA – APRIL 17, 2025 — A total of $4,444,016 in new loans and grants for 10 projects in four counties and one regional project was approved Thursday during a meeting of the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority in Lebanon, VA.
Site development, infrastructure, housing, childcare, the purchase of new industrial property, industrial park signage and workforce development and training were among the types of projects to benefit from the funds approved for the projects in Dickenson, Buchanan, Wise and Lee counties, as well as a regional workforce training project for Mountain Empire Community College.
The largest funding approved was an up to $2,093,186 loan to the Dickenson County Industrial Development Authority (IDA) to be used as a line of credit to assist with the continued development of the Red Onion Industrial Site in Dickenson County.
An up to $1 million grant to finance site development and infrastructure for a new 130-acre mixed-use development within Phase II of the Southern Gap Industrial Park in Buchanan County, was approved for the Buchanan County Industrial Development Authority (IDA).
Also approved for the Buchanan County IDA was a $500,000 grant to be used to finance site development and infrastructure for a proposed commercial area at Southern Gap in Buchanan County; a $120,000 grant to be used to finance a planning study for a proposed child day care facility in the county; and an up to $100,000 grant to be used to finance site development and infrastructure for a proposed housing development at Southern Gap in Buchanan County, including road construction and the installation of utilities.
VCEDA Executive Director/General Counsel Jonathan Belcher also gave members of the board an update on VCEDA activity, noting manufacturing and seed capital projects are still seeing the most activity with staff time also being spent working on several initiatives to help advance the Coalfields Expressway, including a meeting of the expressway board with U.S. Senator Mark Warner held on April 14.
Belcher informed the board that activity since the last VCEDA board meeting has focused on closing of loans and grants previously approved by the board, attendance at various outreach events for business development purposes, work on the 2024 VCEDA annual report which has now been published, ongoing management of active business development projects and review of numerous pre-applications for the spring round of the Seed Capital program which will be considered by the board at its next board meeting.
Additional loans and grants approved at Thursday’s meeting were as follows:
- An up to $230,000 loan to the Wise County Industrial Development Authority (IDA) to finance the purchase of approximately 23.714 acres of real estate in the Blackwood Industrial Park for economic development purposes in Wise County, VA;
- An up to $50,000 grant to the Wise County IDA to be used to finance the purchase and installation of a new sign for the Lonesome Pine Regional Business and Technology Park in Wise County, VA;
- An up to $20,000 grant to the Dickenson County IDA to be used for electrical upgrades to support the establishment of welding classes through Mountain Empire Community College at the Dickenson Center for Education and Research in Clintwood, VA;
- An up to $200,000 grant to the Mountain Empire Community College Foundation to be used for workforce development and training for residents of the VCEDA region;
- An up to $129,080 grant to the Appalachian Council for Innovation to be used for workforce development and training to implement a Simulated Workforce pilot program with the Wise County Public Schools Career and Technical Education Center; and
- An up to $1,750 grant to the Lee County Economic Development Authority (EDA) to be used to help finance the construction and installation of The Battle of Jonesville Civil War Trails marker.
In other business, the board agreed to extend the grant disbursement deadline for the Mountain Empire Community College Foundation on an up to $100,000 grant, to a new grant disbursement deadline of June 17, 2026; to extend the grant disbursement deadline for Sunset Holler, Inc. for the Southern Gap Amphitheater project to a new grant disbursement deadline of May 27, 2026; to extend the grant disbursement deadline for the Scott County Economic Development Authority (EDA) related to the Tempur Sealy expansion to June 17, 2026; and to extend the disbursement deadlines on grants and loans to the Dickenson County IDA related to a grant for the former Haysi and Clintwood High School lots to June 1, 2027, a grant for the Green Lot in Clintwood to April 27, 2027, a grant for the former Chip Mill site at Red Onion to April 27, 2027 and a loan for the IDA’s rehab center project at Red Onion to May 23, 2026.
The board also approved requests from the Tazewell County Industrial Development Authority (IDA) to extend the loan closing deadline on the up to $3 million loan approved previously by the VCEDA board for Project Find to a new loan closing deadline of May 20, 2026 and to extend the loan closing deadline on an up to $800,000 loan approved for the Tazewell County IDA on December 14, 2023 for a meat processing facility project to a new loan closing deadline of June 11, 2026.
The board also agreed to approve a request from the Virginia Coalfield Coalition, Inc. (VCC) to waive the requirement of a first priority security interest in towers constructed with VCEDA loan proceeds as it pertains to new towers being developed by the VCC in Buchanan County in order to expedite the disbursement of VCEDA funding to help with the construction of those towers; and agreed to approve a request from the Scott County EDA to release the land needed for a proposed child day care facility from the lien securing VCEDA at the EDA’s Riverside development, in order to assist the EDA with the location of an essential day care facility at Riverside for the benefit of area employers and employees.
About Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority and Southwest 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 Southwest 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.