Governor
Terry McAuliffe announced Monday the award of three planning grants from the
Governor’s Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development (AFID) Fund.
The Commonwealth awarded a total of $56,000 to projects in the LENOWISCO
Planning District Commission (PDC), City of Roanoke, and Nelson County to
support the growth of agricultural and forestry industries in the
Commonwealth. The AFID planning grant program encourages local
governments to promote agriculture and forestry and incorporate the needs of
these industries into their strategic economic development plans.
Speaking
about the AFID planning grants while on a trade and marketing mission to India
and the Middle East, Governor McAuliffe said, “Today’s announcement is an excellent
example of the important role that our diverse agricultural industry can and
will play in building the new Virginia economy. These AFID planning
grants across the state are leveraging multiple aspects of economic development
in Virginia – agriculture, tourism, community development, and food access,
among others. I am pleased to see so many localities across the
Commonwealth taking advantage of this program to support the local and regional
efforts paving the way for future economic success.”
“I
applaud the LENOWISCO PDC, City of Roanoke and Nelson County for their strong
commitment to Virginia’s agricultural and forestry industries, and we are
pleased to give them the tools to help them support those industries,” said
Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry Todd Haymore. “The LENOWISCO PDC
will utilize its grant funding to develop a regional agricultural development
strategic plan that will have lasting impacts on the region’s economy.
The City of Roanoke Economic Development Authority (EDA) will strengthen the
local food system and improve food access in the Roanoke Valley, while directly
supporting local farmers and food entrepreneurs. Finally, Nelson County
will capitalize on their wine, craft beer, and distilled spirits industries
growing along the Route 151 Corridor and surrounding area to promote and
complement the area’s burgeoning agritourism business while maintaining their
quality of life. These three initiatives will create economic growth in
one of the Commonwealth’s largest economic sector, agriculture, furthering the
Governor’s plan to build a new Virginia economy.”
The
AFID planning grant program, developed in 2012, encourages local and regional
governments to enhance their strategies for supporting and integrating agriculture
and forestry-based industries into their communities’ job creation and economic
development efforts. The planning grants are part of the Governor’s AFID
program, an economic development tool helping localities locate new and
expanding agriculture and forestry-related businesses to the
Commonwealth. AFID grants are available for political subdivisions of the
Commonwealth interested in growing and developing their agriculture and
forestry industries by strategically targeting practices or integrating
practices that add value to Virginia-grown agriculture and forestry-related
products.
The
Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) administers
the AFID program and planning grant applications are accepted on a
rolling. Successful funding requests must demonstrate strong support from
local government and the agriculture and forestry community, and the ability to
provide matching funds. For more information, please visit http://vdacs.virginia.gov/agribusiness/planning.shtml
or contact AFID Fund Coordinator Stephen Versen at stephen.versen@vdacs.virginia.gov
or 804.786.6911.
Details
on the grant awards are below:
1. Project Title: Regional Agricultural Development Strategic Plan
Applicant: LENOWISCO Planning District Commission
(Counties of Lee, Scott
and Wise and the City of Norton)
Award: $20,000
Summary: The localities of the LENOWISCO PDC wish to develop a strategic
plan to fully analyze and incorporate agricultural development into the
region’s overall economic development efforts. The plan will enable the
region’s agriculture and economic development stakeholders to identify
priorities, strategies and implementation projects, but also serve to further
raise the profile of the local agricultural community, both locally and in the
region. The project will be overseen by a work group and steering committee
representing a broad and diverse range of agricultural interests.
2. Project Title: LEAP Community Kitchen Grant
Applicant: City of Roanoke Economic Development Authority (EDA)
Award: $20,000
Summary: This project strengthens the local food system in the Roanoke
Valley by funding additional food infrastructure, directly supporting local
producers and food entrepreneurs, and increasing access to local food. It
consists of three components: a shared commercial kitchen space that will serve
as a small business incubator; a small-scale local food hub; and the LEAP
Mobile Market that will operate from the food hub. Its goals are to (1)
support an increase in production of local foods; (2) incubate food-based
businesses; (3) expand access to healthy local foods in low-income, low-access
neighborhoods; and (4) provide space for food, cooking and health education and
programming.
3. Project Title: Rockfish Valley Area Plan
Applicant: Nelson County
Award: $16,000
Summary: Nelson
County’s Rockfish Valley, home to popular agritourism venues and craft beverage
producers along Route 151, is experiencing significant increases in commercial
development. To ensure these changes do not negatively impact the special
qualities that are the foundation of the area’s sense of place, quality of
life, and economic vitality, the County is undertaking a comprehensive
public-planning process to guide future development. This plan will allow
the County to proactively attract desired types of growth, direct development
to appropriate areas, maximize Nelson County’s agritourism “brand,” support
their thriving agritourism and agribusiness operations, and preserve the prime
agricultural soils and landscapes that are the basis of their success.
No comments:
Post a Comment