Announcement of Federal Funds for Phase II of Crooked Road Technology Center

September 21, 2010

Weber City, Virginia

          I am pleased to return to Scott County today to announce a major allocation of federal funding that will provide a significant boost to our economic development efforts in Scott County and the surrounding areas. 

          Today, at my urging, the U.S. Department of Commerce, through its Economic Development Administration, is providing a federal grant of $2,022,814 for the construction of the second phase of the Crooked Road Technology Center, located in the Scott County Business and Technology Park in Duffield. This new phase of construction will double the size of the Technology Center.

          The federal funds will enable the development of additional multi-tenant space approximately 35,000 square feet in size at the Center. This construction is estimated to be completed in fourteen months.

          When this second phase of development has been constructed, the Crooked Road Technology Center is expected to employ 250 in high-wage, technology-based jobs.

          The current Crooked Road Technology Center is approximately 35,000 square feet in size and consists of a two-story wing and a portion of a central building. The first phase was constructed with the assistance of a federal grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission of $500,000.

           With the federal funds announced today, an additional two-story wing will be completed, and the remaining central building that will serve both wings will be completed. The Technology Center is fully outfitted for technology-based companies with utilities including vey high-speed broadband services.

          Currently, the LENOWISCO Planning District Commission occupies space in the first phase of the Center. When the new phase of development has been completed, the Technology Center will be able to attract companies employing up to 250 individuals in high-paying, technology based jobs.

          The total cost of development of the Technology Center is $4,370,000. In addition to the federal funds announced today, the Virginia Tobacco Commission has provided a grant of $2,347,186 toward the project.        

          Today’s announcement represents another significant step in our ongoing economic developments for Scott County and the surrounding region. My highest priority is creating new jobs for Southwest Virginia residents, and we are achieving this goal in a number of ways including building “smart” technology parks and facilities like the Crooked Road Technology Center that are fully equipped with the resources 21^st century companies need including high-speed Internet access services.

          The primary goal of both the Technology Center and the Scott County Business and Technology Park in which it is located is to attract technology and research and development companies, transforming Duffield into a prime location for technology-based jobs.

          The Scott County Business and Technology Park, in which the Crooked Road Technology Center is located, was completed in 2009 as an expansion of the existing regional industrial park in Duffield. The access road to the new Technology Center and the rest of the Park from U.S. Route 58 was constructed with the benefit of federal funding secured at my request from the Appalachian Regional Commission.

          In addition to the Technology Center and Tech Park, Duffield’s transformation is well underway. The One Partner Advanced Technology and Applications data center, the first Tier III commercial data center in the U.S., which located behind the LENOWISCO office building is now complete. And Holston Medical Group’s state-of-the-art medical center is now in operation in Duffield.

          I would like to note that in addition to the progress in Duffield, we are achieving results throughout Southwest Virginia in our economic development efforts. In the Spring, I announced that DIRECTV, a company I brought to the region through my Showcasing Southwest Virginia program, would operate a virtual call center in our area as the result of the widespread availability of high-speed Internet access services. The company is now employing 137 Southwest Virginia residents.

          And in Lee County, the KCG call center in Pennington Gap, another company I brought to the region through my Showcasing Southwest Virginia program, recently announced that it would add 50 jobs, bringing its total employment to 250 or more this Fall.

          The development of the Crooked Road Technology Center will help us create more new technology-based jobs for the region.