The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development (RD) office in Virginia recognized the Northern Shenandoah Valley Regional Commission last week in Front Royal, Va. for the completion of a high quality regional economic development plan for the Northern Shenandoah Valley Region.
“The agency is very proud of the hard work and dedication that the Northern Shenandoah Valley region committed to completing high quality economic development plans,” said Janice Stroud-Bickes, Virginia Acting State Director USDA Rural Development. “We look forward to continuing support to the region as it fulfills its identified goals.”
The Northern Shenandoah Valley Regional Commission received an award of outstanding achievement for the November 2016 completion of the Stronger Economies Together (SET) regional economic development plan Thursday at the Front Royal Warren County Economic Development Authority. Chairman Dennis Morris accepted the award on behalf of the commission during the commission’s March meeting.
Agribusiness, Business Foundations and Tourism are the three industries that members of the region identified as cluster goals to further economic development.
Since completion of the plan, Northern Shenandoah Valley has leveraged $86 million of RD and other funding consisting of more than $7 million in rural business programs, $847,500 for community facilities programs, and nearly $79 million to support rural housing.
SET is a regional economic improvement program that enables communities and counties in rural America to work together in creating and implementing an economic development blueprint for their multi-county region by strategically building on the current and emerging economic strengths of that region.
Northern Shenandoah Valley is one of three regions that was selected for the SET Phase V economic development planning process in the fall of 2015. The meetings allowed residents and community leaders from Northern Shenandoah Valley – consisting of Clarke, Frederick, Page, Shenandoah and Warren counties, the town of Front Royal and the city of Winchester–to plan collaboratively and alongside experts who offer access to and analysis of economic data.
Virginia’s State Resource Team brought the talents and resources of USDA Rural Development Virginia, Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development and Virginia Tech through VA Cooperative Extension Service to provide coaching and technical assistance to the regional team.
The SET technical support team in Virginia includes the Virginia Tech Office of Economic Development, the Virginia Rural Center, and various agencies from the Office of the Secretary of Commerce and Trade, including the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, Virginia Tourism Corporation, and Virginia Economic Development Partnership.
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USDA Rural Development in 2016 invested more than $1.2 billion in rural Virginia through 40 loan, grant and loan guarantee programs in housing, business, agriculture, energy, health care and community facilities. It has employees stationed in offices across the commonwealth to better serve residents where they live and to improve the economy and quality of life in rural Virginia.
For more information, please visit www.rd.usda.gov/va.