Projects
Region 3 Grant-Funded Projects
Read more about the GO Virginia Region 3 grant-funded projects that support economic development in Southern Virginia.
Bridge to Recovery
Southern Virginia Regional Alliance
The GOVA Region 3 Bridge to Recovery Project is a plan for a comprehensive and collaborative approach to subsidize support to key sectors in order to prepare them for the recovery stages of COVID-19, providing regional support and a unified approach to matching business needs with service provider solutions to meet the mandates and demands created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Date of Award
6/23/2020
G&D Plan Investment Strategy
Cluster Scale Up
Project Status
Active
Amount Funded
$925,000.00
Budget Project Type
COVID ERR Fund
GO TEC Phase 2B
Institute for Advanced Learning & Research
The Great Opportunities in Technology and Engineering Careers (GO TEC) Phase Two project is a strategic talent-pipeline initiative designed to attract 12 new companies within 10 years, creating up to 600 new jobs with average salaries of $61,250 and a potential for up to $100 million in new investment in the Commonwealth. GO TEC is a partnership between employers, economic developers and seven regional higher education institutions in GO Virginia Regions 1, 3 and 4. The GO TEC partners requested $4.896M in GO Virginia competitive funds to build multiple talent pipelines, particularly in the advanced manufacturing sector, through four strategic industry-identified areas: robotics and mechatronics; precision machining and metrology; welding; and advanced materials. The project is supported by five full-time staff and a 21-member board of directors who will lead GO TEC efforts across 22 Virginia localities.
Date of Award
6/23/2020
G&D Plan Investment Strategy
Workforce Development
Project Status
Active
Amount Funded
$3,575,741
Budget Project Type
State Competitive
MBC Middle-Mile Planning
Mid-Atlantic Broadband
MBC proposes to engineer and design 206 miles of new middle-mile open-access fiber infrastructure that will span a total of 14 counties in three GO Virginia Regions (3, 4 and 9) in partnership with private sector providers.
Date of Award
8/4/2020
G&D Plan Investment Strategy
Broadband
Project Status
Active
Amount Funded
$100,000.00
Budget Project Type
Per Capita ECB
Entrepreneurship & Innovation Implementation
SoVa Innovation Hub
The Region 3 grant-funded project will launch a two-year process of program implementation that will align with the Region 3 E&I Investment Strategy. Three of the E&I strategies will be prioritized including entrepreneurship training, youth entrepreneurship and capital access. GO Virginia funds will be used for training costs, outreach, planning, consulting and administration.
Date of Award
3/16/2021
G&D Plan Investment Strategy
Startup Ecosystem
Project Status
Active
Amount Funded
$449,000.00
Budget Project Type
Per Capita REI
SVRA Site Development
Southern Virginia Regional Alliance
The Southern Virginia Regional Alliance (SVRA) will create a site development project that will parallel VEDP's Site Development Program. The region had 33 of 66 available sites evaluated as part of the VEDP Program. This project will elevate 11 of the 33 publicly owned sites to be more shovel-ready. The project will: 1) raise six sites from Tier 2 to Tier 4; 2) raise four sites from a Tier 2 to Tier 3 in preparation for future Tier 4 work; and 3) site characterization of one site. GOVA funds will be used for site engineering and project administration.
Date of Award
9/23/2021
G&D Plan Investment Strategy
Site Development
Project Status
Active
Amount Funded
$1,534,900.00
Budget Project Type
Per Capita
ExperienceWorks
Institute for Advanced Learning & Research
ExperienceWorks is a systems approach that leverages current GO Virginia Region 3 workforce development investments to connect students and young adults to high-skill, high-wage employment opportunities through a myriad of work-based learning platforms. Project outcome is to increase the number of high school graduates who can be gainfully employed in targeted growth sector positions.
Date of Award
9/23/2021
G&D Plan Investment Strategy
Workforce Development
Project Status
Active
Amount Funded
$515,628
Budget Project Type
Per Capita
Controlled Environment Ag (CEA) Planning
Institute for Advanced Learning & Research
The Institute of Advanced Learning and Research, using its recently opened Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) Innovation Center, proposes to engage the Virginia Tech Office of Community and Economic Engagement to develop a strategy and roadmap for supporting industry growth and workforce development for CEA in this Region 3 grant-funded project.
Date of Award
11/29/2021
G&D Plan Investment Strategy
Cluster Scale Up
Project Status
Active
Amount Funded
$77,053
Budget Project Type
Per Capita ECB
SEED Innovation Hub
Longwood University
Longwood University, in partnership with Hampden-Sydney College, is leading the effort to establish an innovation hub in Downtown Farmville. Project SEED is an identified component of a previously funded GO Virginia project titled Entrepreneurship and Innovation Investment Strategy adopted by Region 3 Council in October of 2020. The Hub will serve as: 1) A makerspace, creating cultural change by encouraging innovative thinking and product development that will result in entrepreneurial opportunities; 2) A co-working space where people can meet, work and access critical high speed internet service; 3) a small business development center office; and 4) an educational outreach center, connecting university-based resources to the community, including K-12 students and teachers, to improve the educational culture and resources in the region. A total of 38 jobs are projected to be created in three years and 59 jobs to be created in five years.
Date of Award
12/15/2021
G&D Plan Investment Strategy
Startup Ecosystem
Project Status
Active
Amount Funded
$662,304.00
Budget Project Type
Per Capita
VGA Refresh
Virginia's Growth Alliance
Virginia’s Growth Alliance (VGA) will lead the development of a strategic reset of goals, priorities, focus and support to better reflect changes in the organization and economic development landscape, realigning the organization into a more effective and sustainable posture. This Region 3 grant-funded project will build and strengthen the capacity of the regional economic development organization through business sector analysis, workforce study, analysis of regional incentives and a fundraising campaign feasibility study.
Date of Award
1/19/2022
G&D Plan Investment Strategy
Site Development
Project Status
Active
Amount Funded
$100,000.00
Budget Project Type
Per Capita ECB
MBC Middle-Mile Construction
Mid-Atlantic Broadband
The purpose of this project will be to build eight open-access middle-mile fiber segments that will provide critical broadband connectivity and diversity for economic development purposes in 13 localities in the Commonwealth of Virginia including the counties of Mecklenburg, Lunenburg, Prince Edward, Nottoway, Dinwiddie, Prince George, Sussex, Greensville, Cumberland, Goochland, Louisa, Powhatan, and the city of Petersburg.
Date of Award
3/10/2022
G&D Plan Investment Strategy
Broadband
Project Status
Active
Amount Funded
$5,000,000.00
Budget Project Type
State Competitive
Gupton Initiative
The Commonwealth Alliance for Rural Colleges
The project goal is to launch and demonstrate the sustainability of a career pathways partnership with VCU's College of Engineering to create a pipeline of internship and employment opportunities for students enrolled in Virginia College Fund member institutions in the advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing cluster in Central Virginia.
Date of Award
6/23/2022
G&D Plan Investment Strategy
Workforce Development
Project Status
Active
Amount Funded
$35,000.00
Budget Project Type
Per Capita ECB
CRC REDO
Commonwealth Regional Council
The Commonwealth Region Council (CRC) member localities of Amelia, Buckingham, Charlotte, Cumberland, Lunenburg, Nottoway and Prince Edward counties, as well as Longwood University, have joined together to develop a business plan for a new regional economic development organization (REDO). Outside of Charlotte and Lunenburg counties, these CRC member localities are not members of a REDO. The development of a REDO business plan is the most practical next step to identify the opportunities which a new REDO could provide these northern subregion localities.
Date of Award
9/12/2022
G&D Plan Investment Strategy
Startup Ecosystem
Project Status
Active
Amount Funded
$65,000.00
Budget Project Type
Per Capita ECB
GO TEC 2025
Insitute for Advanced Learning & Research
GO TEC Virginia is the result of a four-year collaborative effort, seeded by GO Virginia and led by Region 3 and the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR), to validate and scale career exposure programming and talent pathways that lead students to employment with firms in priority-traded industry sectors. It is a partnership between IALR, GO Virginia Regions 1, 3, 4, and 5, three In-Region Coordinating Entities (IRCE), employers, economic developers, K12 Divisions, and higher education institutions. GO TEC Virginia 2025 includes the development of three GO TEC Training Labs – one each in Region 1, Region 4 and Region 5 – to serve as a focal point for regional economic developers, working with existing and prospective businesses, to showcase the GO TEC talent pathways and hands-on technology integration that create a pipeline of skilled workers.
Date of Award
12/13/2022
G&D Plan Investment Strategy
Workforce Development
Project Status
Active
Amount Funded
$3,474,821
Budget Project Type
State Competitive
Patrick & Henry Community College of GO TEC Pathways - Welding Instructor
Patrick & Henry Community College
P&HCC will offer dual enrollment welding classes for students in Henry County Public Schools and Martinsville City Public Schools. This will expand current training opportunities in welding to include high school dual enrollment opportunities to grow the pipeline of trained welders. Students participating in the new dual enrollment welding opportunity will have the opportunity to earn a Career Studies Certificate (CSC) in Welding if they complete two full years of dual enrollment credits and the opportunity to earn up to three (3) certifications through the American Welding Society (AWS).
Date of Award
3/14/2023
G&D Plan Investment Strategy
Workforce Development
Project Status
Active
Amount Funded
$119,733
Budget Project Type
Per-Capita ECB
Southside Virginia Community College of GO TEC Pathways - Mechatronics Instructor
Southside Virginia Community College
This project will support the GO TEC Pathways program delivered by Southside Virginia Community College (SVCC) on behalf of four (4) school divisions located in Region 3's northern sub-region. SVCC Is experiencing a positive enrollment trend which will require a full-time salaried instructor at the John H. Daniel Campus in Keysville. This instructor will be responsible for Mechatronics instruction to dual enrollment high school students as part of the GO TEC Pathways program. [*Mechatronics combines mechanics, electronics, robotics, and computer-related subjects.]
Date of Award
3/14/2023
G&D Plan Investment Strategy
Workforce Development
Project Status
Active
Amount Funded
$139,732
Budget Project Type
Per-Capita ECB