A panel discussed the arrival of Microporous as an anchor tenant at the Southern Virginia Megasite at Berry Hill at the the annual meeting of the Danville Pittsylvania Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday morning.
The event convened over breakfast at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research.
Approximately 450 chamber members attended to hear the accomplishments of the past year and look forward to the future as a major economic development project unfolds, according to Anne Moore-Sparks, the organization’s president and CEO.
The 2024 board chair, Varun Sadana of The Launch Place, was unable to attend the meeting and spoke from a video, citing a 14% membership growth in the past year.
“We have a new brand, identity and website and a 25% year-over-year growth in event attendance,” Sadana said. “We held 61 events last year with more than 3,000 members attending.”
Shannon Hair of the Danville Community College Educational Foundation was then recognized as the 2025 board chair.
After a review of the past year and look ahead to this year, state and local economic development leaders were invited to come onstage to join a panel and discuss the first tenant at the Southern Virginia Megasite at Berry Hill in southwestern Pittsylvania County.
The project was unveiled in November by Gov. Glenn Youngkin and was the largest such announcement in the region’s history. The company plans on investing $1.35 billion and creating 2,000-plus jobs.
Headquartered in Piney Flats, Tennessee, Microporous develops, manufactures and markets rechargeable batteries for customers in 23 countries, according to its website. Another manufacturing plant is located in Feistritz, Austria.
Brian Bradner, a senior vice-president with Dewberry, asked questions about the yearslong project of panel members Doug Rich, president of Microporous; Jason El Koubi, president and CEO of Virginia Economic Development Partnership; Molly Olson, senior manager with the partnership; Corrie Bobe, Danville’s economic tourism and tourism director; and Matthew Rowe, Pittsylvania County’s economic director.
El Koubi spoke on the importance of the site development at the industrial site.
“When we set big goals for Virginia, every region of Virginia participating wins, and every person has access to the benefits of growth,” he said. “If you don’t have the site ready for the project, you are going to lose at the first conversation.”
Bobe spoke about the process of getting the megasite to the point it is today.
“When people ask how long you have, you have to smile,” she said. “It’s not measured in years.”
She then related, mostly year by year since 2009, what happened to prepare the site for Microporous.
Rowe, speaking of the necessary site certifications, called the site “very unique” because of the size.
‘Tremendous win’
The huge 3,528-acre megasite at Berry Hill is the largest on the East Coast. It is owned by the Regional Industrial Facility Authority, a joint venture by the city of Danville and Pittsylvania County.
“It is a tremendous win, and the future is pretty bright out there,” he said.
Olson said that the journey to the present point took partnership.
“We worked in lockstep with local partnerships. We needed to showcase that … Southern Virginia had close to the dream site. We had utilities, water, sewer and a road already developed, plus a workforce.”
She added the competitive incentive package was the “cherry on top.”
Rich spoke about the long-term vision for Microporous, including its involvement in the community.
“We already have a community advocacy group funded for $500,000 a year for activities for the community,” he said. “We intend on being here for a long time. We want to be an upstanding member of the community and already have an event planned.”
Besides other incentives, grants and rebates worth millions to the company, both local and state, the company earned an official designation in January as a $100 million awardee under the United States Department of Energy’s Advanced Energy Manufacturing and Recycling Grant Program.
Later in the month, however, after President Donald Trump took office, the administration paused distributing those funds.
Rich says those funds are still up in the air, but it doesn’t matter.
“We’re moving ahead,” he said. “There is no change at all.”
Company needs
Bobe said that from the community standpoint, the company has three needs: housing, day care and transportation.
“Our initial focus will be on daycare, and we have also put together a plan for a two-phased approach to transportation,” she said.
At the conclusion of the panel discussion, Rowe said, pointing to the people on the stage, “This is a battle-tested team, and I would put this team, plus the community, up against any in the country.”
Moore-Sparks called the annual meeting “a powerful reminder of what we can accomplish when business, community, and government leaders work together.
Read the original article here (Register and Bee, Susan Elzey)