The County of Greensville and City of Emporia have been awarded a Joint Enterprise Zone designation through the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. The Governor can designate up to 30 Enterprise Zones for a period of 10 years with the potential to be renewed for up to two subsequent five-year periods. The localities submitted an application and competed for one of only two available zones in 2013.
The Virginia Enterprise Zone (VEZ) program, which went into effect July 1, 2005, is a partnership between state and local government that encourages job creation and private investment. VEZ accomplishes this by designating Enterprise Zones throughout the state and providing two grant-based incentives, the Job Creation Grant and the Real Property Investment Grant to qualified investors and job creators within those zones. In addition to state incentives, each locality offers its own package of incentives tailored to their unique needs.
"The Virginia Enterprise Zone program is a successful economic revitalization tool for business growth and job creation," said Bill Shelton, director of the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. "This joint zone with Greensville and Emporia will provide incentives to create new jobs, promote private investment and support the overall growth of the local economy."
"Greensville County has benefited greatly from the state's support of our existing Enterprise Zone. We look forward to working with the City to extend that success into new areas of the community with the newly designated joint zone." Peggy Wiley, Chairman of the Greensville County Board of Supervisors.
Greensville County was awarded an Enterprise Zone in 1995 that is due to expire in 2015. At that time the Greensville County Industrial Park was a focal point for the zone incentives. The additional incentives assisted the County in bringing several successful investments to the community.
Mayor Person states, "We are extremely happy to have been awarded a joint Enterprise Zone with Greensville County. The job creation and the real property investment grants along with the incentives provided by the city will only serve to strengthen our economy and help provide jobs. We are thankful to the city staff in conjunction with the county for all of their hard work in obtaining these grants for our city."
"The designation of a joint Enterprise Zone in Greensville County and the City of Emporia compliments the overall community and economic development strategy. The areas selected for zone designation were determined by the City and County's Comprehensive Plans and were approved by the local governments for economic development." Natalie Slate, Director of Economic Development for Greensville County.
The Enterprise Zone program will significantly help to stimulate investment into blighted, vacant, and under-utilized downtown and commercial property as well as new investments into undeveloped industrial areas. Furthermore, it will help to attract new businesses and high paying jobs to the area, aid in business retention, and business expansion in the Emporia/Greensville area by helping leverage the area during competitions for potential clients. Enterprise Zone incentives will be packaged with local and state incentives to entice a client to pick the locality.
Brian Thrower, Manager for the City of Emporia adds, "The award of this Enterprise Zone designation is a significant accomplishment for the City of Emporia and Greensville County. This designation should help attract jobs and facilitate investment in our area. I would like to thank the Mayor and City Council for supporting our application and staff's hard work in putting the application together."
.