On May 26, 2022 ten new volunteers graduated from the Staunton-Augusta-Waynesboro Community Emergency Response Team (S-A-W CERT)’s basic training course. CSPDC staff coordinates the S-A-W CERT program for Augusta County and the cities of Staunton and Waynesboro. The Spring 2022 basic training course was the first training offered since the COVID-19 Pandemic began in early 2020.

Since September 2003, the basic CERT course has been offered 39 times, training over 600 people in the Central Shenandoah Region. S-A-W CERT doesn’t just offer the Basic CERT training course; the program has more than 100 active volunteers who meet throughout the year for training, volunteer opportunities, and engagement activities. In June, S-A-W CERT members were excited to finally be able to meet in a large in-person group for the first time in over two years. The next basic CERT training course will start in September 2022. For additional information, please contact Rebecca Joyce at rebecca@cspdc.org or 540.885.5174 ext. 112.

The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) has launched the 2022 Virginia Outdoors Survey. Survey findings will help shape the 2023 Virginia Outdoors Plan, a blueprint for the state’s future outdoor recreation programing and infrastructure that is updated every five years. Current Virginia residents are eligible to participate in the survey and responses are due by August 15. Click here to begin the survey.

The Virginia Outdoors Survey provides the opportunity to share your personal preferences and experiences when it comes to outdoor recreation. The survey is a key element of the Virginia Outdoors Plan. Survey responses inform regional recommendations and data, including the most-needed outdoor recreation opportunities and most popular recreation activities in the Central Shenandoah Region. Click here to view the 2018 Virginia Outdoors Plan.

The Ag Innovation Center project, known as the Virginia Innovation Collective, will receive a $700,000 grant through the Appalachian Regional Commission’s (ARC) Area Development Assistance Program. On June 30, Governor Youngkin recommended the project as one of eighteen projects in Virginia for ARC Funding. The grant will support The Advancement Foundation’s redevelopment of a vacant manufacturing building in downtown Buena Vista into a multiuse, business incubation facility. More specifically, the ARC grant will fund the renovation of a commercial kitchen and ADA compliant entrances and restrooms. CSPDC staff provided grant writing assistance for the project. The Advancement Foundation is also the recipient of a GO Virginia grant, supporting entrepreneurial programming and staffing at the Ag Innovation Center.

In 2020, the CSPDC was awarded a $2,202,000 VATI grant to bring high-speed internet to areas in Rockbridge County with co-applicant BARC Electric. Construction began December 2020 and ended in April 2022.  This project provided broadband access to approximately 470 serviceable units, including 31 businesses in Rockbridge County. Specific areas include Glasgow, South Buffalo, Vesuvius, and Big Hill with a total of 118 miles of fiber. Construction to 22 homes in the Vesuvius area were not completed due to a Blue Ridge Parkway permitting issue. BARC intends to complete construction and serve these 22 homes after the project closeout.

BARC’s 2019 ARC POWER Initiative broadband project in Goshen began construction in April 2021 and completed in November 2022. This project closed out in May 2022 and deployed a high-speed fiber optic broadband network in and around the Town of Goshen. There are 309 serviceable units including about 301 households and 8 businesses and approximately 33 miles of fiber installed for this project. The CSPDC provided grant administration services for this project and the Rockbridge VATI project.