RICHMOND - Governor Mark R. Warner today announced that EnVirtue Biotechnologies, Inc. will locate in the City of Winchester. Over the next 30 months, the company plans to create 12 new jobs through a $1.5 million investment. EnVirtue will occupy 2,500 square feet at 35 West Piccadilly Street in Historic Old Town Winchester. Virginia successfully competed with California and South Carolina for the investment.
“Virginia's reputation as a leader in biotechnology research and development continues to grow," said Governor Warner. "By choosing to revitalize this historic building in Old Town Winchester, EnVirtue proves that biotech companies can locate anywhere in the Commonwealth and benefit from a high quality of life."
EnVirtue Biotechnologies develops and adapts advanced technologies for solving environmental challenges in ecological, environmental, and agricultural sciences. The company focuses on providing technologies that can be used by environmental and agricultural managers to accurately assess their systems. EnVirtue provides services to many private and public organizations including the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. National Marine Sanctuaries and the National Park Service. Operations will begin in early January 2003.
“We selected Winchester for many reasons,” said Craig Downs, President of EnVirtue Biotechnologies. “The area offers a wide array of buildings for our additional growth, an unsurpassed quality of life, excellent transportation access and significant cost benefits. In addition, we were truly impressed by the professionalism of the Winchester-Fredrick County Economic Development Commission, Adams-Nelson & Associates and state representatives that worked on our project. Their responsiveness and hard work made the difference.”
The Virginia Economic Development Partnership and the Winchester-Fredrick County Economic Development Commission assisted EnVirtue Biotechnologies with its decision.