A quick note about the recent hiatus; Tech groups awarded funding
This newsletter about local and regional government in the Fifth District will resume in a few days
Hello all! And welcome to new subscribers as well. If you’ve signed up in the last few weeks, you will note that I’ve not posted anything new. The reasons for this are entirely related to my parents’ transition from a house in Campbell County to a retirement community in Lynchburg.
I formed Town Crier Productions in the summer of 2020 to help organize the work I want to do. That’s resulted in over 521 editions of Charlottesville Community Engagement, a weekly column in C-Ville Weekly, and a weekly appearance on WINA’s Charlottesville Right Now with Courteney Stuart.
Last May I sat at a restaurant in Wyndhurst one Saturday afternoon and put together a set of plans for what has become this newsletter. I put together a document with pertinent information all 24 localities in the new Fifth District with an eye towards creating a second Substack newsletter.
And for the next ten months everything rolled along merrily as I’ve tried to capture what I can about local governments in the Fifth District. It’s still an experiment funded by my Patreon subscribers who know they’re paying for me to try out new things.
By the third week of March, though, I needed to free up time to help move my parents move to the retirement community right across the street from that restaurant in Wyndhurst. Life is a bit different now but I’m still hoping to spend a lot of time in the Fifth District.
But I am so looking forward to getting back to this work. And I offer up this newsletter with one piece that had been slated to run in late March sometime as well as some other links to what my colleagues in journalism wrote late last month May.
Groups awarded funding for to boost tech training capacity
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. 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)
For the full list of awards, visit the DHCD’s website.
Reading material:
Charlottesville City Council overturns BAR vote, OKs solar panels for Methodist church, Hawes Spencer, Charlottesville Daily Progress, March 21, 2023
VDOT adding new roundabouts to busy intersections in Albemarle County, Jacob Phillips, NBC29, March 23, 2023
Regular decision brings overall U.Va. acceptance rate to 16 percent, Thomas Baxter, Cavalier Daily, March 23, 2023
Youngkin signs bill creating $300 tax credit for gun safes, Graham Moomaw, Virginia Mercury, March 23, 2023
Albemarle County school officials deny campaign paid for planned town hall, Alice Berry, Charlottesville Daily Progress, March 24, 2023
Hearings set for solar projects, Crystal Vandergrift, March 23, 2023
Thanks for the update. I’m looking forward to your reporting on Nelson county and the neighborhood in the 5th.