Albemarle County is investing heavily in the intelligence and defense sector and plans to build a campus for related firms near the Rivanna Station military base in the northern portion of the county.
Last week, Governor Glenn Youngkin announced the award of $9.7 million from the Virginia Business Ready Sites program to assist with making county-owned land shovel-ready for a future developer.
“Business-ready sites are instrumental to Virginia’s ability to compete and win economic development projects and create great new jobs for Virginians,” Youngkin is quoted in an August 1 newsletter.
The funding will be used to design the necessary infrastructure and take other steps necessary to ready the site for development.
“Each step forward, from advancing infrastructure design to completing site readiness work, brings us closer to unlocking the full potential of this property,” said Board of Supervisors Chair Jim Andrews in an August 1 press release. “The state’s partnership reaffirms our shared vision of creating a vibrant and competitive location for high-quality jobs and innovation in Albemarle County.”
At the Board of Sueprvisors’ meeting on August 6, Supervisor Diantha McKeel thanked the Commonwealth of Virginia for their investment.
To learn more about the Rivanna Futures project, visit the county’s economic development page.
In 2023, the University of Virginia Foundation received $3 million from the program for the North Fork Discovery Program. According to a dashboard, they’ve been paid just over a tenth of that amount so far.
You can track all of the various sites on the VBRSP Dashboard.
Other localities nearby and in Virginia’s Fifth Congressional District also were awarded funds.
- Amherst County received $850,000 for a site called the Dillard Tract
- August County received $500,000 for Mill Place Commerce Park
- Campbell County received $300,000 for Seneca Commerce Park. You can read more in this article on the Altavista Journal.
- The City of Lynchburg received $4 million for the Ivy Creek Innovation Park
- Pittsylvania County received $1.5 million for the Southern Virginia megasite at Berry Hill
- The City of Waynesboro received $1.5 million for the Nature’s Crossing Technology Center
Before you go: This story was originally published in the August 6, 2025 edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement and then posted here the next day with an additional quote from Albemarle Supervisor Diantha McKeel.
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