On Friday, April 9, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced the allocation of over $6.3 million in Growth and Opportunity for Virginia (GO Virginia) grants to drive economic growth across the Commonwealth amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This funding will support 15 projects, including eight regional GO Virginia projects and seven projects through GO Virginia’s Economic Resilience and Recovery Program.
“This funding will go a long way towards supporting a broad-based economic recovery across our Commonwealth,” said Governor Northam in a statement. “As we celebrate these projects, we must also recognize the leadership and many contributions of the late GO Virginia Board Chairman Tom Farrell, whose business acumen helped advance the GO Virginia mission of fostering lasting regional collaboration, and was instrumental in mounting a robust effort to spur Virginia’s economic recovery amid the pandemic. His legacy will live on through innovative, impactful programs like this one.”
Since its inception in 2017, GO Virginia has funded 163 projects and awarded approximately $56.9 million to support regional economic development efforts.
Below are the grants allocated to the Coastal Virginia region:
2021 Round One Regional Grant Awards
Federation of Advanced Manufacturing Education | $613,000
Region 4: Counties of Charles City, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Greensville, Prince George, Surry, and Sussex and the cities of Colonial Heights, Hopewell, and Petersburg
The Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing, in partnership with Richard Bland College, will establish a Federation for Advanced Manufacturing Education (FAME) chapter in Virginia and launch an Advanced Manufacturing Technician program. Funding will support the development of new hands-on learning space for advanced manufacturing and new training capacity for jobs that are in high demand by area manufacturers.
757 Collab Bridge | $32,000
Region 5: Cities of Hampton, Newport News, and Norfolk
757 Collab, a new venture of 757 Accelerate and 757 Angels, will provide rent-free space and essential programming for 25-30 startup companies each year. This grant will support the ongoing activities of 757 Accelerate and 757 Startup Studios as they develop the new 757 Collab organization.
Economic Resilience and Recovery Grants
Startup Stability Program | $197,000
Region 5: Cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth
The Portsmouth Development Foundation will support small businesses adversely impacted by the pandemic through subsidized co-working space and mentoring services.
Marine Trades Training Program Expansion | $99,137
Region 5: Cities of Portsmouth and Norfolk
Tidewater Community College’s Marine Trades Training Program will expand its welding and marine coatings programs at the Skilled Trades Academy in Portsmouth. The welding program will be expanded by 33 percent to accommodate an additional 40 students per year, and the marine coating program will be relocated and expanded to support an additional 84 students per year.
