Information Charlottesville

Charlottesville is in the midst of writing up a document intended to guide how economic development should be conducted by the local government. Resonance Consulting of New York City was awarded the contract to create a strategic plan for the topic.

“First and foremost, Charlottesville is a diverse and young community with an authentic small-town charm,” said Resonance Vice President Steven Pedigo at the May 15 meeting of Charlottesville City Council. “Charlottesville is home to a highly skilled work force, a variety of industries, and a really strong healthy economy.” (view the presentation)

Several technology groups across the Fifth District have been awarded funding from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development’s GO Virginia grant program. GO stands for Growing Opportunities. 

• Lynchburg Career Acceleration program: A nonprofit called Lynchburg Beacon of Hope has been awarded $540,000 for something called the Career Acceleration Model which is described as “a regional catalyst for the Lynchburg region to create and fill a pipeline of career-seekers that will meet the needs of high-demand traded sector industries.” Beacon of Hope is a partnership between city schools and local business and the idea is to create 112 internships serving 24 businesses. (Region 2)
• Center of Entrepreneurship: The Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance has been awarded $240,192 for a physical space that “will provide local entrepreneurs with a shared workspace, increased access to capital, business development events, and training and development support, as well as a support services network.” This will create 42 jobs serving 20 businesses. (Region 2)
• Southside Virginia Community College (SVCC) Expanding GO TEC Pathways: SVCC has been awarded $139,732 to help increase dual enrollment to train people in the mechatronics industry. I will admit I had to look up what “mechatronics” means. The goal is to train 45 students and award over 165 credentials. (Region 3)
• CvilleBioLab: CvilleBioHub is a nonprofit that seeks to double the size of the biotech industry in the area around Charlottesville by 2030. They were awarded $100,000 to help open a new “wet lab incubator and accelerator that will be available to emerging biotechnology firms in the region.” (Region 9) 
• Metal Workforce Training Center: The Economic Development Authority for the Town of Bedford was awarded $99,900 for the creation of something called the Regional Metal Workforce Retention Center. This will “refine a public-private business model that encourages corporate participation and facilitates the expansion of the Central Virginia Community College (CVCC) Career Technical Education (CTE) Academy, filling the institutional gap between formal certificate-level training and the specific skills needed by local industries.” (Region 2)

The Charlottesville Office of Economic Development keeps track of six areas across the city to see how well storefronts are doing. Filled or empty? The latest figures were released earlier this month. (view the report)

The study looks at the Downtown Mall, the Corner, Barracks Road Shopping Center, McIntire Plaza, Preston Plaza, and Seminole Square. The report only looks at the ground floor and does not include vacancies if a space is being renovated for a future tenant. Vacant office spaces are also not counted.