Affordable Care Act - the Virginia Municipal League

Virginia economic developershonor 3 communitiesThe Virginia EconomicDevelopers Association(VEDA) announced the selectionof Bedford County, the City ofFredericksburg and the ShenandoahValley Region as winners in threepopulation categories of the 2013Community Economic DevelopmentAwards (CEDA). The awards werepresented at the association’s springconference in Charlottesville.Bedford County was selectedin the 40,001-100,000 populationcategory for an entry directed atbusiness retention and expansion, andcommunity involvement.The Bedford County Officeof Economic Development holdsquarterly existing business roundtablemeetings to ensure a strong, diversifiedeconomy and positive businessclimate. It was during these quarterlymeetings that local business managerspointed to the difficulty of findingwell-prepared and qualified workers.With this concern in mind, theOffice of Economic Developmentinitiated the Bedford One Program,linking high school students with localbusinesses based on the students’career interests. Initiated in 2007,the program has had nearly 1,000students participate in 40 companytours to learn about the work andeducation involved at each company.The program is an example of whatcan be accomplished when a schoolsystem and businesses and economicdevelopment interests partner toachieve the same objective.The City of Fredericksburgwas selectedin the15,001-40,000 population categoryfor its first mixed-use development.The project addressed the need forexpanded student housing for theUniversity of Mary Washington(UMW), as well as enhanced retailand service offerings within walkingdistance of the campus. Toaccomplish this initiative the UMWFoundation purchased a 22-acre shoppingcenter located directly acrossRoute 1 from campus. The UMWFoundation, working closely with thecity, has completed Phase I of theproject representing an investmentof $115 million and containing a624-bed premium student apartmentfacility, a 560-space parking deck,31,000 square feet of ground-levelretail space and 34,500 square feet ofClass “A” office space. Phase II, nowunder construction, is the $15 million,93-room Hyatt Place-FredericksburgHotel. This part of the initiative is anexample of creative financing enabledby the city’s tourism zone program,the new Virginia Tourism DevelopmentFinancing Program and theentrepreneurial strength of the UMWFoundation.Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley Regionwas selected in the category forpopulations ofmore than100,000.Its 21stCenturyWorkforce Transitions project hasexperienced such positive outcomesthat Valley leaders are committedto keeping the momentum goingthrough regional collaboration andimproved communication channels.The project began in 2007 withan objective of preparing a workforceready to support economic growthin emerging high technology sectors.With workforce development challengesclearly defined during PhaseI, the Shenandoah Valley Partnershipformed the Shenandoah ValleyEducation and Workforce Committee.The committee, comprised ofmembers from the Valley’s K-12 andhigher education practitioners, stateworkforce providers and the businesscommunity, quickly began to addressspecific deficiencies identified in theassessment. To address an often-citedproblem, “employers do not knowwho to call” regarding training fortheir employees, the committee createdan interactive training databasethat was released to the public inJanuary as a free resource for employersand employees to find educationand training programs.The CEDA awards are designedto recognize communities for theiroutstanding efforts in advancingeconomic viability through economicand community developmentprograms. VEDA is following theformat developed by the SouthernEconomic Development Council(SEDC) and will submit its eligiblewinners to SEDC to be considered bythat organization for a southern statesregional award. This is the seventhyear for VEDA’s CommunityEconomic DevelopmentAwards.Virginia Town & City | april 2013 7