Albemarle moving ahead with update of economic development strategic plan

For many years, Albemarle County did not put an emphasis on economic development. As the 21st century got underway, the Board of Supervisors began to shift toward a more pro-business stance. 

According to the county’s economic development strategy, the transition began in 2008 with an update of the economic development chapter of the Comprehensive Plan, followed by an economic vitality action plan that called for significant changes. In 2015, the county hired its director of economic development and the Board of Supervisors adopted the Project Enable plan in late 2018. 

Six years later, the county is seeking firms who want to develop a strategic plan for the rest of the decade.  The background section in a request for qualifications issued on July 24 sets the stage.

“Albemarle’s local economy is varied, with higher education (anchored by the University of Virginia), the defense sector (anchored by Rivanna Station), healthcare (anchored by the University of  Virginia Health System and Sentara), and tourism focused on wine and historic/cultural resources (including Monticello),” reads the RFQ. 

The next sentence puts an emphasis on the role that biotechnology is expected to play in the future with mentions of both the Manning Institute under construction at the University of Virginia and the Charlottesville Biotech Accelerator run by CvilleBioHub that both Albemarle and Charlottesville have invested in. (See also: Albemarle EDA to sign off on providing $300,000 match for CvilleBioHub, March 19, 2024)

Project Enable was developed in-house but the county has opted to hire a consultant this time around. The department is without a permanent director and an assistant to County Executive Jeffrey Richardson is serving in the position on an interim basis. Emily Kilroy served many years as the county’s director of communications and public engagement. (See also: Albemarle’s communications director to serve as interim economic development director, May 16, 2024)

The firm hired will have to work on seven tasks including a full review of economic indicators compared to ten peer localities and a review of the existing targeted industries. They will have to develop a sense of the county’s constraints including land use policy and zoning and be aware of real estate and business trends. 

They will also need to understand the regional framework with a mention of the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy recently adopted by the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission. (See also: TJPDC adopts regional plan for economic development, May 10, 2024)

The last task is a final plan based on stakeholder engagement. 

“The final plan should include a recommended set of easily understandable and obtainable measures to track progress on the overall health of the economy generally, and specifically to track progress on each objective,” reads the RFQ. 

Since Project Enable was adopted in December 2018, Albemarle has put together several initiatives using the Economic Development Authority as a means to connect to federal and state grant opportunities. Most of these are conducted in secret due to available exemptions in Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act and there is a list on cvillepedia with the names of some of them from Project 49ers to Project Turtle. 

The county is also making a large investment in the defense sector with the $58 million purchase last year of 462 acres of land around Rivanna Station to protect it from encroachment and to develop a campus for the defense and intelligence sector. Supervisors approved a rezoning in June that is seen as a prerequisite for a grant from the Virginia Economic Development Partnership to prepare the site for the future. 

In 2023, Charlottesville hired the firm Resonance to develop a new strategic plan for economic development. You can take a look at that document here. 

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