The city of Danville has been awarded $9 million in state funding for the Coleman Site on Gypsum Road, while Pittsylvania County received $6 million for the Southern Virginia Megasite at Berry Hill.
The grant awards are part of about $126 million in Virginia Business Ready Sites Program development grants for 23 sites across the state, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Thursday.
Funding for the mega site will go toward a natural gas gate there. Transco has a natural gas line that runs through the site.
“The gas gate will tap onto the Transco line to supply natural gas for Berry Hill,” said Del. Danny Marshall, R-Danville.
Danville and Pittsylvania County officials hope to attract a major manufacturer and thousands of jobs to the 3,500-acre site.
The Coleman site includes 158 acres at Gypsum Road in Danville. The site is owned by the Danville Industrial Development Authority.
Administered by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, the program partners with localities, utilities and state agencies to fund infrastructure improvements that build operations-ready sites for employers and manufacturers ready to expand in the commonwealth.
In addition to developing project-ready sites, the program assembles permits and approvals to make way for a smooth construction process.
“We thank Gov. Youngkin and the Virginia Economic Development Partnership for their continued support in preparing project-ready sites across Danville and Pittsylvania County,” Corrie Bobe, Director of the Danville Office of Economic Development and Tourism, said in a prepared statement. “Investing in site development and infrastructure is essential for regional economic growth and, with support through the Virginia Business Ready Sites Program, we are better positioned to meet the needs of industry. “
The program identifies, assesses and improves industrial sites with at least 100 contiguous, developable acres, or 50 acres in the western part of the commonwealth and in areas with other qualifying conditions, according to the news release from the governor’s office.
“Busoness-ready sites drive and accelerate economic growth, and our continued investments in site development position the Commonwealth to compete to win transformative projects that will bring hundreds and thousands of jobs to Virginia,” Youngkin said in a prepared statement. “A growing inventory of project-ready sites is a huge competitive advantage, and our investments in the Virginia Business Ready Sites Program were a big factor in Virginia being named America’s Top State for Business.”
Localities can apply for matching grants to assist with the costs associated with the initial assessment and the development required to increase a site’s current designation level.
Since the program’s inception, 45 sites have received funding and 3,720 direct jobs have been announced on sites that have received the grants.
Grants are considered on a competitive basis and made at the discretion of an investment committee composed of VEDP and Administration leaders.