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Back in January 2020, the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) agreed to give Prince Edward County $650,000. This was to be used to build a new access road to the Prince Edward County Business Park. There was one stipulation, however. In order for the money in this program to remain a grant, the CTB requires counties to show investment within a specific timeline. 

“In our case, we have to document $3.25 million worth of investment in the park,” Prince Edward County Administrator Doug Stanley said. 

Speaking to the board of supervisors during their Tuesday, July 8 meeting, Stanley said the county had been given five years by the CTB to produce that $3.25 million in investment. That time is up and the county has not met the requirement.

“To date, the county has failed to secure the required investment,” Stanley said. “This requires the county to repay VDOT (Virginia Department of Transportation) the grant funds over a five-year period at $130,000 a year.” 

Another issue is that Prince Edward is already late on that first payment. Since the money was given in January 2020, then five years later would be January 2025. However, the county got a bit more time, thanks to a COVID-era moratorium the General Assembly had passed, which put a hold on all paybacks for these projects. That moratorium expired in April of this year and as such, that was when Prince Edward either had to show $3.25 million in investment for the business park or begin repaying the grant. 

County staff got a letter from VDOT in June, reminding them that the first payment was late. 

What is the Prince Edward Business Park? 

Now before we get into the details of the payback schedule, it’s worth noting that this is not the same as the HIT (Heartland Innovative Technology) Park. The HIT Park, which is roughly 280 acres off of Persimmon Tree Fork Road, is in the process of being sold to AVAIO Digital, the same group currently working to build a data center in Appomattox. 

The Prince Edward County Business Park, meanwhile, consists of more than 100 acres just off Route 628 (Commerce Road), set up with the goal of attracting industries to this area. This is just south of Farmville, with four “ready-to-go” industrial sites on the property, with another lot nearby on Granite Falls Boulevard. 

What’s next for Prince Edward County?

This sets in motion two things. First, Prince Edward County has to start making payments of $130,000 each year. The due date on that bill is Jan. 15 of each year, so a $130,000 check has to go out by Jan. 15, 2026, 2027 and so on until that full $650,000 is paid back. 

However, the county does have an opportunity to get all of that money back. That’s the second thing. Under terms of the agreement, if Prince Edward manages to get the required $3.25 million in investment for the business park between now and Jan. 2029, then the county gets the $650,000 back. 

“County staff have prioritized marketing the site with the Virginia Economic Development Authority and (our new economic development arm),” Stanley said. “We’ve actually had the state out (to look) at the expanded road and the expanded industrial park. The trick is on us to make it happen over the next three years.” 

Part of the issue is that the project has only recently been completed. There were a number of delays after the original state funding was provided, including making the transition to a new county administrator. The project design itself wasn’t finalized and approved until Spring of 2022. Stanley added that then construction got delayed, because when the new VDOT office was built, part of that sale included areas where the county needed right of way and drainage easements, as well as construction easements, to build the access road. So construction was put on hold while the easements were negotiated. The road was completed in 2023. 

How much is left? 

Supervisor Harrison Jones asked how close Prince Edward was to reaching that $3.25 million goal. 

“No new investment, zero,” Stanley said. “We just completed the project (over) the last couple years and honestly, we haven’t had that many leads from the state. But one project could easily make that happen. It’s on us to make that happen and save that money. I’ve talked with Chelsea (White, Prince Edward Director of Economic Development), talked with the regional guy, talked with the state, just trying to prioritize and get something to happen out there.” 

To pay the money back, Stanley recommended taking it from the capital improvement portion of the budget. That was approved by a unanimous vote of supervisors.