Economic Development Authority Meeting   8/22/2023

I don't think we had any participants today.

Stephen was planning to be here.

Any matters from the public?

No matters from the public.

All right.

So approval of the minutes.

The minutes are circulated with the package.

Any comments on the minutes?

Is there a motion to approve?

Is there a second?

Second.

All right.

All in favor?

Aye.

Aye.

All right.

The minutes approved financial report.

I'd be happy just to reiterate that the financial report that was distributed is the last one that the authority did see.

Okay.

Any volunteers?

Anybody behind to be the secretary treasurer?

Yes.

Yes, Dave.

Dave, step down.

All right.

OK, thank you, Mr. Chairman.

The first item under new business is an update on Rivanna Station Futures.

And with me today to help present the update on this project is Deputy County Executive Trevor Henry, who's here to the to my right, and then also our interim director of finance, Jacob Sumner, here behind me.

And

The purpose of today's update is to make sure the EDA feels prepared to consider action at our next meeting in September.

And so I'll just quickly tee up a little bit of pressure on this topic.

We canceled our meeting in July, so it's been more than 60 days since we've gotten together about this topic.

But I'll start with the bottom line up front, which is that on September 19th, the next scheduled EDA meeting

The authority will consider a bond resolution for the financing of this project.

That will be up to a $60 million bond anticipation note.

That will be a public sale for the financing around the acquisition of this 462 acres next to Rivanna Station.

Deputy County Executive Trevor Henry will give us an update on some of the due diligence that's been happening on this project.

But just, we have Jacob here in case there are any financing questions at the end of the presentation and Trevor is best suited to answer any questions about due diligence.

So just a refresher, the area highlighted in light blue is the 462 acres that the county currently has under contract.

The area that's highlighted in coral is currently owned by the Army, owned by the federal government.

And then the area highlighted in green is privately held.

That's currently under lease by contractors that are affiliated with the Department of Defense and Rivanna Station.

Can you go back to the slide?

It's somebody different.

I think it's worth noting, just on that question, that building has been upfitted and upgraded by the Army.

to allow it to be at a secure space level.

It's not inside the secure perimeter of Rivanna Station proper, but it does have elements of security currently being used by contractors.

There is an addition project that is happening on the base, lab space, skiff addition.

Some of the elements that are in that commercial building will relocate

into the base and National Ground Intelligence Center in the new wing.

Following on that too, will there ever be an opportunity for the county to be in a position to pay for sales?

I believe the sale price of that property was 40 million dollars itself.

We also are inquiring the owners of the property, there may be some ties back to our federal grants.

the owners of the Green Bottom, but through an LLC.

Who's the seller?

It's Next Generation LLC, which is controlled by Wendell Wood.

So this is a 3D rendering of a vision that was first put forward back in 2017 by some consultants working on behalf of

to envision what's one possible expansion of Rivanna Station.

What could it look like?

And so since I've already got the laser pointer up here, this is the existing Rivanna Station, the 75 acres here.

And then on the other side of Boulders Road, this vision started out with where space and then shows approximately 600,000 square feet of total additional buildings along an extension of Boulders Road that circles back to Route 29.

And the total space occupied by this vision is about 50 acres of that 462 that is currently under contract.

And at our meeting back in June, we talked about the economic impact of this vision being one of

700 direct jobs, locally accruing at least a million dollars of local tax revenue and just over two million dollars of state tax revenue.

And so over the summer, Trevor, myself and other county staff have been inching forward on this partnership model and getting feedback on how we can bring this vision to reality.

And so we've been meeting with partners at the state level, in academia, learning more about how other

other locations around the country that are utilizing this approach, how they're being successful and figuring out how we can replicate that success here.

And so that involves partnerships at the federal level and the private sector and in academia, including universities, community colleges, high schools, even middle schools.

So this is just a quick refresher on the approach that we're taking.

The ultimate goal would be for there to be financial contributions by partners to help the county reduce that overall cost and investment in this 462 acres.

So we presented the last EDA meeting, really an update to the EDA on this project.

And we talked about entering the EDA within this period, which was, by contract, about 90 days, and then with an opportunity to extend through certain terms and conditions.

The approach was to make sure that we assess the land, much like if you were buying a home, you'll have inspections on the site, on the building.

This was really assessing the land for existing conditions, existing structures, existing leases, really a full eyes wide open assessment on the condition of the property as we consider the site and the final acquisition and the recommendation to the board.

and so we have fast forwarded through, go ahead to the next slide, J.T., we fast forwarded through the first 90 days of that, we have extended a month to allow additional work and what I reported to the board on August 2nd, the same exact slide, is that we have found a few issues related to some infrastructure on the site that we're working through but nothing,

to date that we would classify as a showstopper of concern.

And so we are continuing to work through kind of the final dotting of the I's and the crossing of T's of the engineering assessment.

Really a critical path is final survey work and assessment of the title tied to the survey.

And then we need to do a boundary line adjustment.

And so that's the work that is currently happening now.

Coronation we've had with VDOT on what that borders road extension might look like and other utility providers on what a future build out would take and the need in order to supply electric water and so that coordination is happening but the summary for this body is that we are

Moving quickly towards the end of that initial phase of due diligence.

Fingers crossed, so far so good.

Some of that depends on what happens on the other side of the street, and so the timing of that, so the timing of build-out and things like that, we think that this

This is a long game process, and certainly there is time for the infrastructure like that to be built out for when we need it.

I think there's a couple of pictures that are probably worth just... On the eastern side... Are you suggesting that solution is this?

Well, it's pretty, though, isn't it?

In addition to the benefit of some standoff distances and some security to the existing facility,

There's some opportunities for us to do some quality of life work out there with trails, with amenities like this.

This happens to be one of the ponds that's on the facility.

It's beautiful.

So those are some of the amenities that over the next several years as we master plan this whole area, we'll be evaluating what the quality of life opportunities are out there.

That all recognizes the security, the importance of the security.

I mean, it's not, I don't think...

Six 30 days.

We have passed the 90-day mark.

We're now within the first month of that extension.

Likely, we'll have a little more extension in order to get all of the work buttoned up.

And really kind of the next slide.

So those are the good things.

These are some of the areas of work that we have out there.

There's a rental house that has a tenant in it that will likely

We'll have to deal with that through the contracting process before we close.

There are some infrastructure items related to the water bodies that are out there, the dams that need some work done on it.

So it's those kinds of due diligence items that will get finalized before we would move to closing.

And so we, you know, we have a team, we meet weekly across departmental, attorney's office, exec's office, facilities, environmental services, community development, economic development, finance.

It's full court press for almost the entirety of the non-public safety elements of the county working this project.

It's a great team, great work.

We've been to the state, Mr. Richardson, myself, Mr. Newberry, two weeks ago.

Today, we're down briefing the veterans.

The Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs is really the sponsoring entity of the secretariants.

And we're working towards follow-ups with commerce, labor, and education, and hoping to be in front of the governor sometime in the fall before the budget process kicks in.

Supervisor action on September 6th for the financing and then back in front of this board on the 9th.

I think that's it.

No, that's great.

And I should have said on the front end, one of the reasons I'm really thankful that Trevor could walk through the due diligence is that state code enables economic development authorities special powers related to property and the development of property.

And we haven't got there yet, but I believe that the EDA

We have Jacob Sumner here.

The next near-term step is really financing.

And we want to make sure that our calendars are clear.

All of our EDA directors can be available and present to consider action on the financing on September 19th.

We had bond counsel here at the June meeting, Chris Cole from Hunton Andrews.

And we've got Jacob here to help us answer any finance questions there might be.

Well, the next near term step is that financing piece.

So with that, we'll take any questions the directors might have.

All right.

Thank you.

OK.

That's a great question.

I should have hit that too.

Part of the assessment has been to assess the ability to develop the development area.

It's in the acquisition and early assessment and reports from our engineers is

We feel like there's a programming for the first 50, 75 acres.

They believe that based on their analysis of the site, we should be able to at least double that, maybe more.

So no, we've not seen anything that looks to be restrictive.

And it probably was one of the most critical ones to make sure that the development opportunity was to a level that would be worth the investment over a period of time.

All right.

Okay.

Thank you.

So, on to the next item on new business, performance agreements.

Yes, so

Mr.

Chair, this item is to consider the performance agreements to implement the Commonwealth Development Opportunity Fund and the Virginia Jobs Investment Program grants that have been awarded to Agrospheres.

These are photographs from an event in early May.

This was at 1180 Seminole Trail, the building next to Costco, where we have many of our primary businesses and target industry businesses.

But in the photograph, you can see Governor Youngkin providing a flag to the co-founders, Payam and Amir.

And this is a photograph of them.

They framed it and they've got it up in their office that they shared with us recently.

They are investing, they committed to $25 million of capital investment and creating 53 new jobs for research and development and a test of manufacturing area that will be in the space shown on the lower right hand side.

And so in the middle here, we've got our liaison to the EDA, Supervisor McKeel, along with Chair Price and the co-founders and the governor.

We've got County Executive Jeff Richardson, pictured here at the event.

So it was a great event.

I know, Mr.

Chair, you were able to attend.

It was good.

And it was a great day.

And so today is when we take action on those incentive agreements.

And we have invited and joining us virtually the co-founder, Payam Hotahiri, who is going to provide just a brief update on the company since early May.

Yeah, I can.

All right.

Awesome.

I can't see me but I also have my project B friend framed comic here as well that was gifted to me from the county it's hung up in my office.

But yeah, really grateful for the support we've received.

Of the 53 jobs we want to create, I think we've already created about 14 of them and the facility isn't up and running yet, so a lot more jobs to be created.

We recently received organic approval for our technology that helps basically provide a controlled release of biological pesticides.

One of their major issues is they're not

Environmentally resilient, you know, chemicals are sprayed, they last a long time in the environment and they damage, you know.

bodies of water or soil or environment.

And for biologicals to be successful, they need to be stabilized and be able to actually provide the efficacy farmers need so they can grow their crops and get the best possible yield.

And so our technology allows for that controlled release of these various biological based pesticides so that they can last for about a week or so to ensure that

Every time a farmer goes and sprays maybe once a week, once every other week, they know that their pesticide is going to work every time.

And another major attribute of the technology is that it's microplastic free.

You may have heard in the news or various articles, microplastics are in the environment.

They're found just about everywhere.

They're used in cosmetics, in agricultural applications, and specifically in agriculture they're used for controlled release.

And so our technology is an organic, fully biodegradable way of stabilizing these biologically derived pesticides.

So really excited about that.

That's what we're going to be manufacturing here in Albemarle County.

when J.T.

mentioned I could join and thank you guys and give you guys an update.

Of course, I'm happy to be here and thank you all for your continued support of our company as we go from a company that started at a lab bench at UVA and now have about 17K square feet and growing.

Thank you, Payam.

Yeah, if all goes well, the EPA is

A good friend of ours, they are understaffed and underfunded, but they are getting through.

And if all goes to plan, we'll have the approvals we need for a commercial launch of this time next year, which gives us time to build out our production site over the next three or four quarters, hire the people we need, and then get into the hands of our distributors.

I think we'll do a lot of the distribution here in Virginia.

the Monticello-Wann Trail, the Virginia Wine Board have been such great supporters of us when we first started as undergrads so we want to be the ones delivering to them but out west and in the other crop regions we would work through distribution so hopefully we're slated for a Q4 2024 launch.

So I thought it would be helpful to just give a quick overview of, you know, it's been a few months since we've considered the specifics of this grant, but the EDA has heard this information before, but just to go over it one more time, the opportunity from the state is a total of $236,000.

And so that's comprised of $200,000 in a COF grant and $36,000 through a VJIP grant.

As I mentioned, that's as a result of capital investment and job creation.

The average wage of those jobs would be just over $74,000.

and so the agreement that would be approved today by the EDA would allow us to finalize those local match agreements that's required for the COF grant and it would also allow us to act in accordance with our VJIP policy of matching the state's reimbursements for those new hires through the VJIP grant and

So the county like we're through the EDA, we're going to be like we're spending two hundred and thirty six also.

Yes.

Yes.

That's money that the board, I mean, that the board supervises appropriately.

is going towards the company.

The COF grant has a very broad application.

There's really not a lot of strings attached to how that money is used.

The VJIP grant is reimbursed as new hires come online and it's meant to reimburse costs with recruitment and training for those new hires.

So

The way the process works is the company advises us that we've had 14 people we've already hired and they've been on for 90 days.

And the state will verify that through their W-2 system.

Yeah, sure, I'm still here.

Yeah, mostly biotech fermentation scientists, plant molecular biologists, a lot of postdocs and industry scientists we're trying to relocate here.

We got a really good

So that definition is applicable to both grants.

And there's a definition included in the agreement that was distributed with your packet that talks about the definition of new job and

Maintenance of Jobs on the bottom of page two.

There are no.

I'm just going to add in terms of the in terms of the local BJIT match there, there is a requirement that they that the jobs be in Alport County, Virginia doesn't require that.

That motion?

I know the authority to adopt a resolution to approve the agreements to support the retention expansion of atmospheres.

Is there a second?

Second.

All right.

Sure, we'll do a roll call vote.

Director Bray.

Aye.

Director Mottola.

Aye.

Director Laurel.

Aye.

Aye.

All right, motion passes.

So next on the agenda is the GO Regional Entrepreneurship Initiative, GRANT,

and I am a college lead, so I don't think I can vote on this.

Yeah, I would love to tee up our guest speaker.

We have a guest speaker today, the executive director of Venture Central, which is an organization that was one of the co-applicants for this Go Virginia grant.

And I will welcome Rahul Kesha,

to the table or to the front of the room, wherever you feel comfortable.

Thank you so much.

And I will give me one second.

And yeah, you're good to go.

Well, good afternoon, everybody.

Thanks for having me.

Again, my name is Robert Keship.

I serve as executive director of Venture Central, which is a relatively recently established nonprofit organization.

and startups in the central Virginia area.

The idea is we want, you know, Payam, for example, who, you know, serves on the board of venture central is exactly the kind of founder that we wanna support and hopefully support that startup to keep it in the region.

So I'd love to talk to you briefly just about the Regional Entrepreneurship Investment Strategy and then really, you know, answer any questions or concerns you might have.

So, J.T., thank you.

So the Regional Entrepreneurship Initiative really stems from the Go Virginia Region 9 grant.

The idea being that Go Virginia looks for opportunities and pathways to support entrepreneurs

and Go Virginia Region 9, which is displayed there, including the County of Albemarle.

And so the grant has come really with an eye towards trying to unlock and identify other funding opportunities, both for Go Virginia and state resources, but also potentially for federal resources or other investments in our region by essentially coming up with this strategy.

We hope to identify those and unlock further funding.

The timing of the grant is potentially longer, but it's right now aimed to be about 18 months.

So it started in June of this year and will run to December of next year.

The funding, as you can see up there, is about $300,000 from DHCD through Go Virginia.

And then there was essentially a requirement for matching funds.

And so 75,000 of those have been pledged from the County of Albemarle as well.

totaling that 165 there across the region.

In terms of the project goals, the idea again is really to come up with that regional entrepreneurship assessment and report.

You know, we need to identify both what the prior research is, but also reach out into the community and talk to folks across Region 9 who are in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, as we call it, try to understand, you know, what is working, what isn't working, obviously what the opportunities are.

And then in terms of what we want to come up with, it's really a three to five year plan with some clearly identified some action items, again, to unlock that funding and also kind of hopefully coalesce interest and focus in certain areas.

And then again, we also do want to have a specific goal of providing Go Virginia with a list of prioritized potential grant opportunities and funding opportunities.

Very briefly, the project team includes, so the grant itself is going to be led by CIC, the Community Investment Collaborative, which hopefully you all are quite familiar with.

And Steven Davis, the president, is helping lead that up.

Venture Central is essentially a partner in that in terms of helping CIC.

And then, you know, along with that, we are going to be hiring a consultant, which is Craig Honick.

If anybody knows Craig, he's a partner

We'll be hiring a program manager who has been identified and will be starting in a couple of weeks.

We'll be reaching out to other entrepreneurial support organizations.

So this is certainly not the kind of thing that is only venture central or even only central.

reaching out to, for example, the Charlottesville Business Innovation Council, Seabill Biohub, and other organizations like that to try to make sure that everybody is part of that conversation.

And then also there will be an advisory group, which will be largely led by city and county economic development representatives from the various counties and city that make up Virginia Region 9.

So that's the project team.

I won't go into this in detail, but this is the project timeline.

Again, at a very high level, we are in the getting started phase where we're literally having kickoff meetings and identifying the consultant and the program manager.

Then in short order, we are going to start to identify who the people are that we need to talk to and listen to.

We are going to try to find out what the prior research is and

And then essentially go from there into some sort of collection of what did we learn, what are the recommendations.

We do want to make this region-wide and so we are going to be really connecting in with each city and county in order

essentially something that hopefully is actionable in that locality.

And then essentially about a year from now we're optimistic that we can essentially wrap up the collection and the planning and the recommendations and perhaps start to blend in a little bit to identifying future opportunities and thinking about the next phase of work.

So it's going to be a pretty active schedule.

So that's about the overview from you all.

I think we're always seeking feedback and open to your questions.

We are still really in a bit of the planning phase in terms of identifying what might we be missing, who are we not thinking of, or what groups are we not thinking of.

How can we address concerns?

Obviously, you know, whether that's now or after the meeting, and the next slide is just a contact us kind of page.

Happy to, you know, get your engagement and of course your questions.

So, does that work?

Thank you, Raul.

There is certainly no

If the EDA has any immediate reaction to any of the questions that are included on the screen, I think we'll prepare to receive that feedback or answer those questions.

I do have some questions.

So this is like a non-profit organization.

Are you affiliated with Go Virginia?

Yes, it's a good question.

So Venture Central is a 501c3 charitable organization.

So it has no affiliation with the state.

It is simply, in this case, pitching the grant.

And CIC is really the lead on this.

And CIC is another

So I guess I don't understand the goal of your, and I apologize because I'm a new member or a new director, so I understand you're trying to, or my understanding from what I just heard was

to grow entrepreneurship and to get it to thrive and to promote entrepreneurship.

I guess I'm not understanding your timeline in a year and a half to try to set this up and the research.

Sure.

Well, I'll speak at a high level and then please stop me if I'm not going the direction you're interested in.

and probably is a non-profit mission-oriented organization that has a focus of promoting entrepreneurship in Central Virginia.

One part of that, of course, is helping to try to understand what is happening across the region.

And, you know, one opportunity that has been available is that GO Virginia has been looking for leads to develop essentially this regional entrepreneurship strategy.

And so, you know, this strategy really seems very well aligned with the mission of Venture Central.

And, you know, with CIC as well, although

serving under-resourced entrepreneurs and founders.

And so this is, you know, the entrepreneurship REI strategy is essentially one activity of Go Virginia, excuse me, of Venture Central.

That's kind of my question.

But it was like your end goal with regard to furthering entrepreneurship.

Yeah, it's a great question because

Excuse me.

Venture Central was originally established with an idea to be kind of the front door for entrepreneurship in our area.

And then the pandemic happened and, you know, the entrepreneurial community has continued to kind of grow and evolve.

And so, you know, the one thing we don't want to do is just keep doing the thing we said we were going to do initially.

And so we've got a broad mission that is to focus and promote entrepreneurship.

But underneath that, I think there are a number of ways we go in terms of, you know, is it venture capital funding?

for example, or is it angel investing, which is another thing we're active with.

So looking at, you know, as director

You need to think how this money is a good investment for the community.

Is it like, how are you selecting?

I understand you're trying to basically figure it out.

Is all the grant money going to figuring it out?

Or is it like, what is the timeline that this grant money will be used?

So let me clarify that all of this grant is focused on developing the REI strategy.

And so, you know, this grant, the recipient of grant funds will actually be CIC.

And the focus here is on, so it's, as you can see, it's about $465,000 worth of potential funding that could be spent for the grant.

And the focus there will be on hiring the consultant.

That's about $100,000.

So what we're trying to understand is what are the opportunities for entrepreneurship in Central Virginia, both based on, you know, for example, Go Virginia has a number of traded sectors that they focus on, and Go Virginia is looking to try to understand in Region 9, how can entrepreneurship flourish?

So we don't want to put our thumb on the scale, but we'll be looking

You're a non-profit who's feeding into the CIC as well as Go Virginia.

I'm trying to understand the

Yeah, so Go Virginia is really the grantor in this case, and so they are providing the funds.

CIC and Go Virginia, excuse me, CIC and Venture Central have essentially gotten together and agreed to collaborate to execute on the REI strategy, which was a priority established by Go Virginia because they have done this

Well, they will be doing this in every Go Virginia region.

Do you mind if I add to that?

You know, I think you took a lot of my thoughts right out of my head because I, you know, some of the context preceding this effort is that in looking at other communities that have really highly successful entrepreneurial ecosystems,

There's typically a navigator.

There's a front door.

There's a central place where somebody says, I have an idea.

I'm a Payam.

I'm on a bench at UVA.

And I've come up with this great concept.

How do I get this from a lab bench to a governor's announcement?

at a facility.

And from looking at the best practices around the country, what we found in Charlottesville is that a lot of the resources were particularly disaggregated.

So if you were a part of the university community, there was a track that had some gaps to it, but there was that.

If you were a part of our local community, there were some resources, but there were also some gaps there.

And so Venture Central in its original ideation was, we want to be that front, that singular front door that can bring together all of those different members to provide comprehensive resources to entrepreneurs.

The pandemic changed a lot of things for a lot of different people, but the motion towards ecosystems, the Seville BioHubs, the Charlottesville Business Innovation Council,

You see those specialized players really amplify the opportunities for entrepreneurs in our community.

And so Venture Central's and the grant from Go Virginia will provide that roadmap

Here are the gaps that still exist, even though we've all gotten together and have a better understanding of how we work together and make recommendations on where there's opportunities to improve.

So when I think about some of the benchmark communities, they already have this set up.

And what happens is when entrepreneurs don't have that, they get sucked out of our community to Boston, to Austin, to San Francisco, to wherever their ecosystem may thrive.

So I know like Dr. Hastings at Civo Biohub talks a lot about Boston.

and others in the tech space talk a lot about Austin and San Francisco.

So how can we make sure that those other places aren't more attractive to grow their businesses than to stay right here?

Because it can be relatively unique if you get angel investment or venture capital from somebody in another area, they might say, hey, look, like your best shot at being successful is picking up and moving.

And our office has examples of

entrepreneurs that left the community because they weren't able to get the resources they needed.

That was helpful.

I have a question just about noticing the contract document.

Charlottesville is bringing in $75,000, Albemarle is bringing in $75,000.

and then the other counties in Region 9 are bringing token events.

Principally, yes.

You know, some of those, some of those communities

really draw very minimal services for the types of high tech, high growth opportunities that most of our entrepreneurial resources are focused on.

When the next time we have the Small Business Development Center come and talk, they'll show you that, you know, Albemarle and the city are really occupying 80, 90% of the services.

We will put your contact information up here so that it makes sure it lives forever on YouTube in case anybody wants to contact you if they have further thoughts and questions.

Is there any other questions or comments from our presenter or the authority?

Go back to... Nicole, I'm guessing you're helping me, maybe.

Yes.

J.T.

I apologize.

I just noticed that CIC is the main recipient of the grant.

So in terms of the resolution we'll just substitute community investment collaborative

And just to be clear, that's the reason that I'm refusing myself.

I move that the EDA adopt this resolution appropriating $75,000 from the Community Investment Collaborative, subject to the terms of the resolution of the Go Virginia grant, and authorize the authority's chair and treasurer to execute all documents necessary to correct this claim.

Director Wray.

Aye Director Mottola Aye Director Morrill Aye Director Johnson Aye The motion passes.

Thank you.

Alright, so now

In our unfinished business, we have an election of the Secretary-Treasurer.

They need to have one to sign our various motions.

Yeah, I can give a little bit of a preview and I'd appreciate any help from the team if they'd like to add, but historically the Secretary-Treasurer has been the main point of contact for providing the financial report at each meeting.

from time to time when there are bond issuances or any kind of financial contracts that need to be reviewed and signed, that there's also an opportunity there for signature treasurer to

I think the biggest thing is in the short term, we're just trying to get our financial statement.

I mean, that's a two-page document to the extent that it's financial statement, lined up with what we want to do, how we want to see it.

And then that's the main thing.

Yeah, just kind of wanting to know what's involved with that just because my my time allocations are huge.

So I want and also, you know, are you

Is somebody else preparing the financials on you?

I mean, once again, just from my experience, the financial report is prepared by staff in collaboration with the finance department of the organization, the accounting department.

and then it is signed off on as far as its accuracy by county staff.

I just find it a stretch to, you know, even to come up with a hypothetical that would put you in a position to be liable for anything, even if there were some form of larceny or embezzlement or something.

Our treasure doesn't handle any money, right?

Again, it's all generated by staff.

And it is, I mean, it actually is a grand title.

It is Secretary-Treasurer.

and I will second that.

Any further discussion?

All in favor?

That's the vice chair.

Very good.

Thank you.

And there's some sort of like overview.

Somebody else sits with me and kind of goes.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yes.

Thank you.

All right.

Yes, there are a number of fun announcements I'm looking forward to sharing with the EEA in the next five minutes or so.

The first I wanna begin and forgive me, I feel very rude.

We have a new team member, Elizabeth Hatcher, Liz, who's at the end of the table.

You know, on our team, we all do a little bit of everything.

So she's going to just be helping out our team do what we do.

And we're excited to have her.

And she started on August 14th and has has been already brought a lot of energy and enthusiasm to the office.

Liz, is there anything that you'd like to share with the authority at all?

No, I'm just really, I said it earlier, I'm really grateful to be on such a great team.

Thank you, welcome.

It does.

Stay tuned.

Thank you.

Yeah, and I'll just quickly touch on the photos for this slide here.

So just a quick teaser.

You'll see a familiar face in the picture on the far left.

Joshua Shia has been our intern this summer.

We've never had an intern in our office before.

And I'll share more about Joshua in just a few moments.

The middle picture is Trevor and I going up to D.C.

Shortly after our meeting in June, we got to meet with defense communities from across the country to hear about the threat of encroachment that you heard Trevor discuss.

And what are some of the tools at the federal level?

What are some of the things that those communities are doing to mitigate the risk of encroachment?

There is foreign investment that is undermining the missions of

Installations across the country.

And so we were able to attend this event in Washington.

And in November, a presentation proposal has been accepted down in Orlando at the National Conference of the Association of Defense Communities.

And so looking forward to that.

On the far right hand side, this is just a photograph of the state coming to visit and look at the Site Readiness Grant that is under implementation by the University of Virginia Foundation up at North Fork.

So this photograph, difficult to see at this size, but it shows a clearing of about 30 acres of land for

prospective state targets to land at North Fork.

And so we're excited about the potential of the site.

There's been a lot of interest in it over the years and are hopeful that there will be a very valuable tenant that will land there soon.

I just want to share my enthusiasm.

for this experience.

It was a distinct honor and pleasure and opportunity to attend those four days in Chapel Hill under the direction of I think 11 really esteemed, amazing, incredible economic development professionals and academic leaders.

And in just a way that I'm thankful that I had

a couple of years under my belt before I dove into the immersion because so much of it had such a different context after walking the walk a little bit.

There were 11 different coursework topics and 151 ED professionals from across mainly the East Coast

a lot of North Carolinians and a lot of Tar Heel fans.

But as far North as Maine and as far South as Louisiana.

So just a really wonderful opportunity to learn and just really sink my teeth into the coursework.

And it's the first step in obtaining your certificate, becoming a certified economic developer.

And there's only 1100 or so

certified professionals in the country.

So I'm looking forward to continuing that path and I'm just thankful for the opportunity to.

So what were the kinds of classes?

It was literally like we've all heard the expression, you know, drinking water from a fire.

Pose.

It was literally every component of economic development on the most intensive fast track possible.

Financing development projects, business retention and expansion, site selection, real estate, workforce development, ethical dilemmas, trends in economic development, managing an EDO as far as working with boards and

You know that reminds me a couple of years ago we did the Virginia

What was the thing that we went to?

Oh, we went down to the conference.

Yeah, it was the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, probably likely the state.

Was it called the 101?

I think so.

There were a bunch of folks from other EDAs that were there.

I think it was in Richmond?

That was called.

Yeah.

And the partnership.

It was an organization that I haven't seen.

I don't know if they've done it again.

Yeah, that was prepaid right before the pandemic.

I think that would be a good thing.

I mean, I always wanted to hear what you're talking about.

There was a lot of discussion with different EDAs about things that they're doing and how they're handling different things.

So it's something we ought to be paying attention to.

And we've talked about, you know, paying for EDA directors that had an interest in attending that.

I think it was fairly nominal.

Yeah, I think it was in, I want to say it was in May, maybe we changed the time or something like that.

And next time that program's announced, we'll share the EDA.

Perfect.

Yeah, on trend with the presentation that was provided by Rahul and Payam from Agrospheres.

This is another example of the entrepreneurship in our community.

We were able to meet with Imbibe Solutions last week, I believe.

Yes, last week.

They recently moved from the city.

into the county.

They're in Crozet.

So Mr. Mr. Mottola, they're in your neck of the woods.

They're located across from Mira Cedar, behind the green wall there a little bit, or the King Solomon Lodge, as Liz and I noted, is a landmark area.

But Audrey, who you see there, is Audrey Skinner.

She is the president of Imbibe Solutions.

And what

It sounds like a joke that I could...

It's different.

They do lab management and if a brewer or a vineyard has an issue with maybe something's too bitter or something isn't

is heating and clouding.

They do all of the chemical testing and quality control.

And as I said, they moved over to Crozet this year.

They've recently just set up shop.

And she, I don't know if you can tell from the photo, but she's got another project she's working on that's going to probably be commencing in October.

So after her child is born, I think she'll be interested in some B2B connections.

and some ways maybe she can work with additional vineyards and brewers and distilleries around the way.

So currently they have three staff.

It is Audrey and her COO Jessica.

And they recently just hired a lab technician, also named Jessica, who is helping them there.

They're not at capacity.

They're ready to take on more projects and really

are hopeful that we can, through our BRE efforts, hook them up with some marketing connections and just some contextual relationships that may be beneficial.

And I was jotting down notes.

I'm sure they do work with Piomet Agrospheres because he deals mostly with the agricultural clients too, but Rahul as well, just to try to network.

And word of mouth is how they rely on

on expanding their network.

So we're looking forward to continuing helping them.

And they've been in business seven years, so they're pushing along.

You can provide space so they don't have to leave the area.

Exactly.

I'm just imagining that they outgrew their space.

They did.

Because we don't want them to go to Richmond.

Exactly.

And fortuitously, the new location that they selected, they have plenty of space to expand, if necessary, and add staff and add product storage.

So yeah, so just wanted to remind you.

Charlottesville and Albemarle works together with Economic Development.

We're not trying to steal from each other.

So just a quick second to recognize Joshua.

I mentioned he's our first intern.

He goes back to school tomorrow.

He's a rising senior at Western Albemarle High School.

I am so proud of this guy.

Courses and the diversity of courses that Ashley talked about at basic training at UNC is what we wanted to replicate for Josh.

We wanted him to see site readiness, BRE, workforce development.

And so he helped us get sites uploaded into the state database.

He helped us be our eyes and ears when we couldn't be there.

He attended a biomanufacturing symposium up at North Fork.

Of particular interest to the EDA, he cataloged all of the bond issuances that the Albemarle County EDA has done since 1986, totals over a billion dollars in benefit to the community, but helping us lay a stronger historical record and financial foundation as the EDA continues to take its next steps and

Yeah.

Hi, I'm Joshua.

I just want to say I'm so thankful to the Ed Helmond Building Office and to the EDA just to let me have this opportunity of a lifetime.

It's been very enriching.

So, yes, like J.T.

said, I'm starting my senior year tomorrow.

It was not tomorrow.

Best school in the county, by the way.

But yeah I intend to pursue business and economics in college so that's what I'm going to be applying to.

It's been amazing to learn about economic development and local government and you know it's probably I probably think it's probably the best way I could have spent the summer I mean spent the best summer I've had in a long time so I had no idea how much impact you know economic development has on this community I didn't know what I was expecting like I didn't

understand economic development as just a high school student.

But coming in, it's been really cool to see just how much it affects our community.

And, you know, it connects them to places and events that I've attended here in Albemarle County.

I never thought I would, you know, be affected.

And, you know, once again, I want to thank J.T., Ashley, and now Liz for welcoming me into the office family.

It's been really fun.

Thank you, Josh.

Really appreciate it.

There's hope, yeah.

I mean, I'm probably going to.

Reaching for Wharton at UM, that's my hope.

Well, hopefully you come back someday and take advantage of this entrepreneurship program that we just funded.

I have to say, we had to tell Josh, just calm down.

Like, you have to go back to school and finish your senior year.

We're very honored to have you.

We've loved having him.

And he's been a tremendous, tremendous asset to the department.

And he's a bright, smart, funny guy.

And he was recommended to us by a former EDA director, David Treve.

for us to make.

You've jumped ahead.

On unfinished business.

Great enthusiasm.

And so please, please mark down on your calendars that September 19th date for our next meeting.

Right, anything else?

Any other questions?

I do.

For the chair or anyone assembled from the county, is there any update on establishing a permanent director for the authority?

We are starting the recruiting process actually there tomorrow.

Well, I would echo George's comment too that if you ask me, J.T.

would be top of my list.

It's not your time.

So, Don, I have something before we go cuz I

Actually, look at the time, this is pretty cool.

Donna Price and I are the liaisons now for the board Chamber of Commerce Policy Committee.

And I say that as preface because I just wanted you all to make you all aware, this is really for your calendars.

The Chamber of Commerce is going to be sponsoring what we're calling eggs and issues.

Election and Economic Outlook.

And if this is happening on Wednesday, September the 27th at the center Belvedere 830 in the morning hence eggs and issues.

and the keynote will be Bob Holsworth.

I think that name may be familiar to some of you all.

Bob is the keynote who is a political analyst in the state.

And they have invited the governor who is not accepted yet, so I don't want to say, but Bob is confirmed.

And also the panel is going to include among other people, we'll have a panel afterwards, Clark Jackson, who is the director of Southeastern Region,

Congressional and Public Affairs.

But this is certainly something that some of you all may be very interested in attending.

So just one.

It'll be advertised.

Wednesday, September the 27th.

830 in the morning at the center.

Until when?

830 to 1030.

And we might, at some point, want to invite Natalie Mossery to come.

Yeah.

Absolutely.

But I just wanted to make you all aware of that.

You'll hear more about it in the community.

But it's always good to have things like that on camera.

OK. Yep.

That's all I have.

Anything else?

All right.

Thanks, everybody.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

Actually, I'm trying to get my head around.