83 New Jobs Expected from $4.7 Million Summit View Business Park Grant

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced that the Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) is awarding a $4.7 million grant to Franklin County, Virginia, to support business growth by improving roadway infrastructure within the Summit View Business Park.

The EDA grant, to be located in a Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Opportunity Zone, will be matched with $9.15 million in local funds and is expected to create 83 jobs, retain 53 jobs, and generate more than $43 million in private investment.

“The Trump Administration is committed to helping American communities in Opportunity Zones update infrastructure to attract and grow businesses,” said Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. “The project will expedite business growth by building a key connector road and providing an alternative shipping route to Highway 220 in the Summit View Business Park. The project’s location in an Opportunity Zone will attract additional investment.”

“Severe storms, flooding, and mudslides impacted Franklin County and the Summit View Business Park by in 2018,” said Dana Gartzke, Performing the Delegated Duties of the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development. “This project will help the area become more resilient in the face of future natural disasters by building an alternative shipping route. The project’s Opportunity Zone designation will further transform the
community.”

The funding announced today goes to one of Virginia’s 212 Opportunity Zones. Created by President Donald J. Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, Opportunity Zones are spurring economic development in economically-distressed communities nationwide. In June 2019, EDA
added Opportunity Zones as an Investment Priority, which increases the number of catalytic Opportunity Zone-related projects that EDA can fund to fuel greater public investment in these areas.