Congressman Morgan Griffith attends developers meeting in Grundy, praises ongoing projects

GRUNDY, Va. (WJHL) – Ninth District Congressman Morgan Griffith attended the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority’s (VCEDA) quarterly economic developers meeting on Tuesday.

A VCEDA release said Griffith spoke briefly about federal funding programs like the Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization (AMLER) program.

“Economic development is not Republican or Democrat,” he said. “It’s about getting jobs for people.”

Griffith also said he was pleased to be at the meeting and reminded local developers his office door is always open to them.

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Virginia Delegate Israel O’Quinn and his legislative aide Thatcher Stanley; Josh Hess, legislative aide to Griffith; and Shane Clem, Sen. Mark Warner’s legislative aide, were also in attendance, according to the release.

O’Quinn mentioned reducing Business Ready Site program readiness parameters from 100 acres to 50 acres, the release said. He then talked about the value of teamwork.

“Economic development is a full-contact sport, but it’s also a team sport,” he said. “We all pitch in together to support projects, even those outside of our legislative districts.”

Shane Clem added that Warner will be in the district soon, and he said he was pleased to see the momentum the Coalfields Expressway Authority had started on moving the expressway project along, according to the release.

Local economic developers from VCEDA provided updates on their areas’ ongoing economic development projects. The release said VCEDA Executive Director/General Counsel Jonathan Belcher also gave updates.

According to the release, Belcher noted the VCEDA Seed Capital Matching Grant program spring round’s deadline is approaching and is set for April 19. He also stated that work is beginning on the FY 2025 business development plan for VCEDA.

Jessi Fritz with the Virginia Economic Development Partnership provided updates, and Randy Rose introduced his new role as the Associate Vice Chancellor for Community & Economic Development at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise.

Griffith, Clem and VCEDA attended two AMLER announcement events on the Breaks Interstate Park swimming pool project and the U.S. 460 corridor cellular wireless project later in the afternoon, the release said.

The meeting was held at Grundy’s Southern Gap Transportation and Logistics Center. The current marketing calendar was also discussed.

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