RICHMOND - The Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) today announced that 15 $10,000 grants were awarded to communities as part of the Virginia’s Opportunity Regions (VOR) FY 06 marketing program. This is the second round of grants awarded since the VOR marketing program was established in late 2004. The program’s mission is to increase the number of business prospects to communities of Virginia that have certain levels of fiscal stress or unemployment. The VOR Marketing Grant program provides funds for these localities to build marketing capacity.
The following communities will receive grants:
- Charles City County
- City of Buena Vista
- City of Danville/Pittsylvania County
- City of Galax, Grayson County, Carroll County
- City of Martinsville/Henry County
- City of Richmond
- City of Roanoke
- City of Suffolk/City of Portsmouth
- Emporia-Greensville Industrial Development Corporation
- Gateway Region (Cities of Colonial Heights, Hopewell and Petersburg, and Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Prince George, Surry and Sussex Counties)
- Lake Country Region (Brunswick, Halifax and Mecklenburg Counties)
- Northern Neck Region (Northumberland, Lancaster, Richmond,
- and Westmoreland Counties)
- Page County
- Region 2000 (Amherst, Appomattox, Bedford and Campbell Counties, Cities of Bedford and Lynchburg, and Town of Altavista)
- Scott County, Wise County, Lee County, City of Norton
“VEDP is always looking for ways to assist localities with their recruitment efforts,” said Jeff Anderson, VEDP Executive Director. “The Virginia’s Opportunity Regions marketing program provides distressed communities a unique opportunity to execute marketing initiatives and thus increase their flow of business prospects.”
The awards will support a variety of marketing initiatives, including development of marketing materials, participation in marketing missions, design and purchase of new marketing booths, Web site development and improvements, direct mail and advertising pieces, market research and the development of marketing programs.
As part of a requirement of the program, each awarded community will monitor and report back to VEDP the success of each project, including how the money was spent, initial results and expected results.
The Virginia Economic Development Partnership, a marketing organization, was created by the Virginia General Assembly in 1995 to encourage, stimulate, and support the development and expansion of the economy of the Commonwealth. The Partnership is a state authority, which is governed by a 21-member board of directors appointed by the Governor and the Virginia General Assembly. To accomplish its objectives of promoting economic expansion, the Partnership focuses its efforts on business recruitment, expansion and international trade. VEDP has offices in Virginia, Germany, Hong Kong, Mexico, Brazil, Korea and Japan.