Four projects focused on business development and jobs growth won the 2022 Growth and Opportunity for Virginia (GO Virginia) grant awards totaling $1.2 million.
“GO Virginia allows us to invest in key projects that will enhance our economic growth by fostering workforce development and stimulating new business opportunities,” Governor Glenn Youngkin said in a Tuesday announcement. “These projects exemplify the innovative partnerships that GO Virginia grants were designed to promote, driving regional advancement and strengthening our Commonwealth.”
Funds totaling $532,269 will go to a project at George Mason University to hold a competition and showcase of top tech companies in Virginia. The Central Virginia Partnership for Economic Development will receive $307,800 to create a talent pipeline to retain college graduates in the region with higher-paying technology fields, while $199,727 will go to a community kitchen in Culpeper to help prepare local products for market. Additionally, $175,000 will go to a project at Virginia Tech to create an entrepreneurship computer science platform to simulate startups and launch four new businesses, according to the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development.
“These projects will support and grow industry sectors that are vital to Virginia’s economic future,” said GO Virginia Board Chairman Nancy Agee. “These high-impact projects, endorsed by their respective regional councils, are designed to deliver results today and into the future.”
GO Virginia issued its first grants in 2017, has 38 current projects, and has funded 233 projects with about $93.7 million.
“These GO Virginia projects will increase workforce capacity while expanding economic growth through job creation and entrepreneurial startups,” Secretary of Commerce and Trade Caren Merrick said. “Our regional partners have made great use of GO Virginia’s collaborative approach, and those partnerships will create prosperous avenues of innovative investment and strengthen both communities and economies across Virginia.”
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Eric Burk is a reporter at The Virginia Star and The Star News Network. This article originally appeared in The Virginia Star. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of The Republican Standard. Republished with permission.