Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 10, 1992 TAG: 9203100148
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GEORGE KEGLEY BUSINESS EDITOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Both actions "will help Virginia get back on track in industrial recruitment. It certainly helps our efforts," said Beth Doughty, acting executive director of Roanoke Valley Economic Development Partnership.
Montgomery County's loss of a Blue Cross operations center to West Virginia last year was used by development officials as a major argument to win legislative support for the fund.
If the fund had been in place, "it could have been used to reduce site development and construction costs" in Montgomery County, according to Hugh Keogh, state director of economic development.
More public loan money was available in West Virginia for Blue Cross, he said, and "we lost the project for a few hundred thousand dollars." The Blue Cross center is expected to bring more than 1,000 jobs ultimately, Keogh added.
"This is going to help us close deals in the [Roanoke] valley," said Brian Duncan of Roanoke County Economic Development Department. Duncan said he and his counterparts in other areas have been writing legislators to gather support for the legislation.
Brian Wishneff, economic development chief for Roanoke, said his department could have used the fund in the past.
As approved by legislators in the budget package at their closing session Saturday, the fund provides primarily for infrastructure and training to help the state meet growing competition for new companies.
To tap the fund, a prospective investor must spend $10 million on a plant that would employ at least 100 people. In localities of 50,000 population or less, the minimum investment is $5 million and 50 jobs.
No single project can receive more than $1 million and no locality will be eligible for more than one grant a year, according to Billy Dickinson, state deputy secretary of economic development.
by CNB