GO Virginia Region 3 announces that it is accepting Letters of Interest from organizations with a presence in the Region 3 footprint, that are interested in developing a “regional entrepreneurial investment strategy” as described in the GO Virginia State Board Guidance document attached here.
The Region 3 Council will utilize a portion of its Per Capita Funding to support the coordinating entity’s work. As authorized by the GO Virginia State Board, the Council may opt to accept a reduced match (50%) and waive the local match participation requirements.
Applicants should follow the guidance and requirements as noted below. This includes careful documentation of match that demonstrates it will be available at the time of award and committed to the activities described in the Letter of Interest. When submitting a Letter of Interest, applicants are strongly encouraged to collaborate with like-minded organizations interested in the entrepreneurial and innovation space.
Interested applicants must submit a letter of interest no more than 2 pages long that speaks to the points below, even if these elements are not yet fully known:
- Includes the name and contact information of the primary applicant
- Provides name and contact information for the proposed coordinating entity for this initiative (may or may not be the same as the primary applicant)
- Identifies Region 3 jurisdictions to be impacted/involved; the Region 3 Council has a bias toward proposals that demonstrate engagement across all of Region 3.
- Includes list of likely partners and collaborators and describes the process to engage these partners
- Provides a brief narrative description of the project (500 words max) including:
- Explanation of the qualifications for the coordinating entity as it relates to developing entrepreneurial ecosystems
- Explanation of how the coordinating entity will utilize existing assets in the Region to support the development of the plan
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- Explanation of how the coordinating entity will align its development with the priority business sectors and occupations found in the Region 3 Growth & Diversification Plan.
- Describes how the coordinating entity will build on the TEConomy recommendations and relevant sections of the Region 3 Growth and Diversification Plan; both of these documents can be found on the Region 3 website govirginia3.org.
- Identifies likely total costs including anticipated GO Virginia request and matching fund sources
- Includes a clear description of expected outcome or result – clearly describing how the strategy would spur growth of higher-wage jobs in one or more of Region 3’s priority clusters AND respond to one or more of the identified strategies in the Region 3 Economic Growth and Diversification Plan.
The successful applicant will ultimately be required to deliver a written entrepreneurial investment strategy document for Region 3 by March 31, 2020.
The Region 3 Council is accepting these Letters of Interest through May 30, 2019. Acceptance of any applicant’s Letter of Interest does not commit the Region 3 Council to further action. Interested parties should feel free to contact Liz Povar at [email protected] or 804-399-8297 with questions. Letters of Interest should be submitted electronically, using the Subject Line “R3 LOI”, to Liz Povar at [email protected].