At the start of 2020, the CSPDC’s unemployment rate was below 3%.  Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic began to impact industries and their workforce in March and by April, CSPDC localities experienced sharp unemployment increases. At 20.8%, Bath County had the highest April unemployment rate in Virginia.  As all CSPDC localities showed an increase from March to April, they also reported a decrease in their unemployment rate from April to May.  The CSPDC’s unemployment rate in May, the most recent data available, was 8.5%, below both the unemployment rate for Virginia (9.2%) and the United States (13.0%).

George Pace, a well-known and highly respected business leader from the Shenandoah Valley, has tenured his resignation from the GO Virginia Region 8 Council.  Mr. Pace will be leaving his post as Chair and member of the Region 8 Council to focus his time and efforts on helping the UVA Health System navigate the challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic where he serves as chair of the UVA Physicians Group Board of Directors. Mr. Chris Kyle, Vice President of Shentel and current Vice Chair of the Region 8 Council, will assume Mr. Pace’s duties as Chair.

GO Virginia – a statewide initiative created by Virginia’s senior business leaders to foster private-sector growth and job creation through state incentives for regional collaboration by business, education, and government – was first launched in 2016. Mr. Pace played an integral role in establishing the Region 8 Council from the very beginning. Region 8 encompasses two planning districts and 16 counties and cities across the Shenandoah Valley, stretching from Winchester to Lexington.

Under Mr. Pace’s leadership, the Region 8 Council funded numerous projects including a certified welding program in Rockbridge County, a cyber security workforce training program at Blue Ridge Community College, the Shihadeh Innovation Center in Winchester, an agricultural enterprise center feasibility study for the Shenandoah Valley and, most recently, the Scale-up the Valley Economic Gardening program being offered through the Shenandoah Valley Partnership.  In total, nine GO Virginia projects totaling more than $1.7 million have been funded by the Region 8 Council.

In response to a Request for Proposal released in March 2020, 14 highly-qualified firms representing 8 states submitted proposals to conduct the Agricultural Enterprise Center Feasibility Study. The CSPDC formed an 8-member Study Team composed of potential Ag. Center users and representatives from businesses and organizations who support local food production, to assist with the review process, and serve as a vital resource throughout the study.

After conducting a rigorous review process, New Venture Advisors (NVA), an agriculturally focused firm based out of Chicago, Illinois was selected. The interview team was most impressed by NVA’s related experience, understanding of agriculture, team cohesiveness, and adaptability. In July, NVA began work on the study that is expected to conclude in May 2021.

Chesapeake Bay Awareness Week, June 6 through 14, is a time to appreciate the culture, history and natural beauty of the Nation’s largest estuary. In the CSPDC region, all precipitation and runoff from Augusta, Bath, Highland, Rockbridge and Rockingham Counties drains into the Potomac and James River basins, making our region part of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

To help ensure that pollution control measures needed to fully restore the Bay are in place no later than 2025, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) contracted with the CSPDC, and 14 other Bay PDCs across the state, to assist with the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP III). Since 2018, the CSPDC has provided technical and administrative assistance to local governments and stakeholders as they implement the WIP III plan and determine best management practices to clean up our rivers and streams.

Celebrate Chesapeake Bay Awareness Week by exploring our region’s scenic rivers, including the Middle, Calfpasture, and South Fork Shenandoah. #BayAwarenessWeek.

The logo for the planned Afton Express transit service connecting Staunton, Augusta County, and Waynesboro with Charlottesville and Albemarle County has been unveiled. The HIVE Creative Group of Crozet presented the Afton Express stakeholder group with three potential logos and two taglines for their consideration. Following the presentation, the stakeholders voted to move forward with the logo and tagline shown above which will be used to brand the buses, the website and printed materials.

Grace Blanchard has been hired as a new planner at the CSPDC. Grace is a recent graduate of UVA’s Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy.  She has interned at The Highland Center and was a 2019 Governor’s Fellow for the Secretary of Commerce and Trade. Grace grew up in Highland County and has a deep appreciation and understanding of our region. Grace will be primarily working on community and economic development projects throughout the region. Welcome Grace!

Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) members have made five trips to Rockbridge County to pick up and deliver over 200 masks to Staunton. The homemade masks are being made by the Rockbridge Quilters Guild and will be used by the Staunton-based Virginia COVID task force in partnership with the Virginia Department of Health.

CERT volunteers are members of the community who have gone through a 9-week CERT course provided by the CSPDC and who have volunteered to stay active with the program to help out during natural disasters and emergencies.  There are more than 100 active CERT volunteers in the region. Thank you, CERT volunteers, for helping to keep our communities safe during this time!

Rebecca Joyce, CSPDC’s Community Program Manager for over 20 years, received the James Madison University (JMU) John B. Noftsinger Alumni Award for Public Service Excellence. The John B. Noftsinger award recognizes those who actively engage with the community, strengthen social equality, demonstrate personal integrity, promote ethical standards of performance and stewardship, and advance professional excellence in the Shenandoah Valley. JMU held a virtual awards ceremony on May 7, where honorees were celebrated for their public service at JMU, in the JMU alumni community, and throughout the Shenandoah Valley region.

Ms. Joyce was raised in Staunton and is a graduate of JMU, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Master of Public Administration degree. With compassion and a light-hearted and witty personality, Ms. Joyce goes above and beyond in her efforts to achieve positive results within the community. Whether it is a project to assist the entire region, one locality, or even one individual- Ms. Joyce is dedicated to her work and assists every citizen with a smile on her face.

In May the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) approved the allocation of nearly $100 million to assist small urban and rural transit agencies such as BRITE Bus offset the revenue losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This funding is part of the federal transportation funding that was apportioned to the Commonwealth under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

The BRITE Bus system was allocated nearly $3M in CARES Act funding and is using these funds for operating expenses, hazard pay for bus drivers and front-line workers, the purchase of personal protection equipment including masks for drivers and riders, and to offer fare-free trips for riders.  The CSPDC is also using CARES Act funding to cover all transit partner match contributions for FY21.

BRITE Bus is a public transit service managed by the CSPDC that provides fixed route and ADA compliant paratransit service in the Staunton, Augusta County and Waynesboro areas. Now more than ever, transit is critical to our communities and the residents who rely on BRITE to get them to employment, medical services and essential shopping.